Mask Off: A Molly Route
by path was taken
Summary: A pseudo-route about Molly Kapur, a student who sits in front of Hisao. Story begins as an alternate to the "Cold War" scene.
1. Covalent Bond

**Covalent Bond**  
 _Hisao has to find a new partner while the Student Council is away._

I walk to class after taking an exceptionally long time in the shower. While I'm not a morning person, I think I'm going to continue with running for a couple of days to get the Nurse off my back. I don't really dislike running, especially considering that my running partner is Emi. She's pretty cute despite being the Nurse's "spy".

I look at my watch: five minutes before classes begin for the day. I should hurry up and get to class, but I'm enjoying the gentle morning breeze and the sun rays before being cooped indoors like I was back at the hospital. It's such a shame too, because it looks as though it's a good day to spend outdoors and take a nap on the grass.

I make it to class a minute before it's about to start. I see Mutou at his desk rummaging through his bag for something. He's probably looking for today's lesson plan. We make eye contact and he gives me his interpretation of a reassuring smile. I nod back.

"Nakai, how are you doing today?" he asks.

"Good, I guess," I reply with a half-smile of my own, "Just a little tired from waking up early to go for a morning run."

"Good that you are getting some exercise before class."

"Yeah…"

He just looks at me, unsure if he wants to say something. Before he can say anything, the bell rings and Mutou looks relieved to hear it as much as I do.

"Well then, take your seat."

"Yes sir."

I trudge to my seat and notice Shizune and Misha are not in theirs. I breathe a sigh of relief; I don't think I can handle another day with them pestering me to join the student council. Maybe I can have a proper day without having to interact with anyone. Just a normal school day for once.

Mutou, looking somewhat frustrated that he couldn't find his lesson plan, says we are doing group work for the rest of class. Lovely. Sure, I'll have to find someone else to help me, but at least I can relax and catch up with what we're learning without Misha trying to rope me into the Student Council at Shizune's behest

As I reach in my bag to grab my book, I sense someone approaching my desk. I slowly look up, and it's the girl who sits in front of me. This girl is missing her legs and has prosthetics. Unlike Emi, the mocha colored girl standing in front of me has metal prosthetics that don't really resemble normal legs. They look like metal bones that connect without the need of muscles.

I guess I'm not subtle at staring at her legs, or lack of, to say the least, as she waves her hand to get my attention. She gives me an uncomfortable smile. I still don't know how I should act around students with noticeable disabilities. I hope I stop staring or else my only friend will be Kenji. I wince at the thought of hanging out with Kenji and his plans to stop the feminists.

"Nakai, right?" she asks with a smile on her face.

"Yes," I answer. "How can I help you?"

"Well one of my partners is absent and the other one is…well asleep," she replies, pointing to the girl with blue hair that's passed out on her desk.

"Well it looks like we are in the same dilemma, as my partners are absent as well."

"I was wondering, that since our partners are occupied with other matters, would it be okay if we partner up for today?"

"I don't see why not. It would be nice to do work without being pressured to join the Student Council," I say half sarcastically.

She giggles at my comment and smiles.

"Great!" she says is an enthusiastic tone.

I don't even know if I know her name, or anyone else's name for that matter besides Shizune, Misha and Hanako (who is nowhere to be seen as well).

"I'm sorry, but I forgot to ask you your name."

"Kapur. Molly Kapur."

"Shall we get started on our work then, Kapur?"

"You can call me Molly, everyone else does."

"Okay."

As we work together to solve these problems, I can't help myself from staring at Molly. She has her black hair done in two braids that end just past her shoulders, while the rest of her hair sticks up from random spots. She has spiky bangs with two red hair clips on her left braid. It suits her well for some reason. But the one feature that sticks out the most, are her eyes. They are a very dark color, almost an onyx color. I can almost see my reflection in her eyes; I must have been staring at them for too long, as she notices me staring and gives an uncomfortable smile.

"Is there something on my face?" she asks nervously.

"No, I was stuck on number 19 and got lost in concentration," I reply. "I don't remember if we covered this in class or not."

"Oh," she returns. "The answer is covalent bonding. It was part of our reading we had to do for homework."

"Ah, I was too busy yesterday to even look at it."

"It's okay," she says reassuringly. "Everyone is busy setting up for the school festival, so the teachers are giving us some slack on the homework. Just make sure you catch up," she continues with a smile on her face, "we have tests coming up and they are not going to let us get off that easy."

"Can do," I respond, returning a smile of my own.

I didn't notice before, but Molly has a slight accent. It's barely noticeable, but it's there. Her accent is very pleasant to the ears and has a sort of hypnotic tone to it.

"How does it feel not having the Student Council besides you today?" she asks out of the blue.

"Quiet comes to mind," I say with an exaggerated sigh of relief.

We both giggle at my comment and Mutou looks at us with a curious look on his face; before he can ask what's so funny, he's cut short by a classmate walking up to him to ask a question.

"You plan on joining the Student Council?"

"I was thinking of giving it a shot, so I can get them off my back."

"Yeah, most students leave after the first week. Hakamachi's power trip in running the Student Council wards them off from sticking around."

"Interesting…" is all I can muster, as I begin to get curious about what Molly just said.

"They had an argument before class started. It was with the class representative of 3-2; about some forms that needed to be turned in today for the school festival."

"They did? I bet it went south real quick."

"Yup. Not to get too much into detail, but they left with the class representative to get the forms."

"Well that explains why they are not here."

Molly nods to confirm.

It's true that Shizune is bossy and wants everything to go her way, but maybe as Student Council President, she really does know what is best for the school. Either way, I wish they would leave me alone so I can see if there any other clubs that I can join. Maybe I can go around seeing if there are any clubs activities today.

We spend the rest of the period in silence, except for the occasional question about the work assignment. Occasionally, we trade glances at each other and both look away when we make eye contact. The work is easy, as it was one of the subjects that I read while I was in the hospital. I can't explain why, but science always seems to click with me better than other subjects do. We finish the work with ease, with three minutes left before the bell rings, signifying the start of the lunch period.

I wonder how I will spend lunch today. Lilly offered for me to join her and Hanako for tea and lunch anytime I want, but I am not feeling up to it, as I don't think Hanako is comfortable around me, especially with what happened the other day between us. Alas, since Shizune and Misha are not around, I can feel relieved, as I won't be pestered to join the Student Council. But I cannot lie that I miss their company. As I contemplate on how I will spend lunch, I notice Molly is looking at me, as if she wants to ask something.

"What's up?" I ask.

"I was wondering," she begins, "if you have any plans for lunch?"

"I was thinking I would spend it in the cafeteria and try to see if I can spot someone familiar," I answer.

"Oh," she replies.

"What do you have in mind?"

"I thought maybe you would like to join me for lunch. I made extra and thought maybe you'd like a homemade meal as thanks for partnering up with me today."

"That sounds good, but you don't have to repay me for partnering up with you."

"O-okay," she responds, as if she had been declined.

"But a homemade meal does sound appealing compared to the food offered at the cafeteria," I reassure her. "I guess I can take your offering as some sort of payment," I joke.

She turns away for a second as soon as the words leave my mouth, as if to hide her slight blushing. She turns back after a few seconds.

"Don't expect me to offer you lunch again, if you going to act like that," she says in a teasing manner, with a slight hint of embarrassment.

As soon as she says that, the lunch bell rings. I pack up my stuff along with the rest of the class, who are relieved to leave for lunch.

"Lead the way," I say to Molly.

"Will do," she says back, with a smile on her face.


	2. Innervison

** Innervison**  
 _Hisao meets a familiar face at the school's garden._

The bell rings to end Saturday classes and students pack up their belongings. The school's festival is tomorrow and students have to finish setting up and I linger in my seat for a while. Since I only transferred in during the week of the festival, I don't know if I should help out or try to settle in at this school. Maybe I can try to study today, so I can catch up. But today looks far more interesting than to spend it cramped up in my room studying.

"Another day," I whisper to myself.

Staring out of the window, I dig a piece of paper out of my pocket. It's the diet plan Emi gave me today before classes started this morning. Unfortunately, I had another episode yesterday while running. I put my hand over my chest and think about how I could have ended up in back in the hospital, or even worse.

"What was I thinking, trying to keep up with a track runner?" I ask no one in particular.

Maybe looking after my health is best. My time is already short as it is, and I want to at least make it to graduation. Hopefully I can sneak in some 'unhealthy' food tomorrow to say goodbye to it before committing to this diet. Stuffing the paper back in my pocket, I pack my books and leave the empty classroom.

I walk out of the school's main building and see students setting up for the festival tomorrow. Everyone at this school is working hard setting up, and I'm here feeling useless. I get sad when the thought crosses my mind. It looks like everyone knows how to deal with their disabilities, while I continue to be on the outside looking in. How long will it take me to be on the inside looking out?

After wandering with no direction around campus, I wind up at the school's garden. The sight is truly remarkable. The light breeze makes the multiple colored roses dance to an inaudible tune, the trees surrounding them as if some ritual is performed. The cicadas join the trees in making the music a symphony that complements the scenery. I am awestruck by the performance. Then I notice I am not the only one seeing this dance. I spot Molly sitting near a tree by the pond and I slowly approach her.

"Hi Molly, what are you doing here?"

No reply. When I approach her, I notice that her eyes are closed, and she's wearing a calm expression. She's sitting with her legs cross and she looks as though she has a serene aura around her. Did she take a break from helping out and end up taking a nap instead by accident? Not wanting to bother her, I turn around and make my way to the boys' dorm. As I do, a voice calls out to me from behind.

"Hello Hisao," Molly replies in a relaxed tone.

"Sorry for interrupting you nap, I was about to leave," I whisper, apologizing with a bow.

Stretching her arms over her head, she turns to face me. "I wasn't sleeping, I was meditating."

Cocking my head to one side, I ask, "Meditating? Is that the things monks do?"

"Yes, but a lot of people do it, not just monks," she says as she leans back, using her hands as support, "It helps me clear my mind."

"Does it really work?" I ask out of genuine curiosity,

"I think so."

"Can I give it a try?"

"Of course! Take a seat," she answers cheerfully, motioning me with her hand to take a seat next to her.

I walk back to Molly and take a seat next to her on the soft grass.

"The first thing you need to do is relax your body," she instructs.

I try my best to relax my body. I feel my muscles begin to loosen up.

"Next, close your eyes and focus on your breathing," she continues. "Make sure to inhale and exhale slowly."

I close my eyes.

"Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale."

I follow her instructions, and take a deep breath and my lungs fill with air. Then, I slowly let the air leave my lungs and repeat the process.

"Keep focusing on your breathing and eventually you should be able to feel it," she says concluding her instructions.

I continue to focus on my breathing and slowly feel my mind wonder off. But as soon as I think my mind is going blank, birds chirping in the distance distract me from focusing on breathing. On top of that, I hear students from a distance hammering stalls together and barking orders. The sounds are too distracting and I open my eyes shortly after.

"I can't focus with all the sounds; they're distracting me," I complain.

"It's difficult at first, but give it time, and the sounds will become white noise to help clear your mind. It just takes practice," Molly says in a formal tone with her eyes closed.

"I don't know if I can do this."

"You don't have to do anything if you don't want to. You're free to do anything you like," Molly peacefully reassures me. "At least you gave it a shot."

Molly's tone sounds different than it was the last time we spoke. It's a gentle and calm tone. It kind of reminds me of when I first encountered Lilly the other day. Is this caused by meditating?

"I think I'll give it another shot."

"Wonderful," she replies, while still holding her meditated posture.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I slowly exhale and repeat the process. As soon as my mind begins to wander off, the sounds grow louder again. I can't help myself from being distracted by the sounds, so I try my best to focus on one of them. I focus my attention on the cicadas. Eventually the cicadas' cries silence and my mind begins to fill with thoughts.

"… _hey Hisao, that was a good presentation..."_

"…thanks! It was nothing…"

"…well you look really handsome in your suit…"

"…really Iwanako? Stop it; you're making me blush…

"…can't help it, if my boyfriend looks good in a suit…"

"…my chest feels weird…"

"…HISAO!..."

After a while, the sounds return and become too distracting for me. I take a look at my watch; an hour had passed. I turn to Molly, who is hugging her metal legs. She is staring blankly at the pond, as contemplating something.

"Whoa, that was interesting," I comment.

"What do you think?" she asks, breaking her gaze to face me.

"I think I like it. It felt like I was in another world, where I was normal for a while," I reply, regretting my choice of words at the end.

"That's good."

Molly sounds happy about my experience.

"You're not offended?"

"Why should I be?" her voice rises in curiosity.

"It's just; I'm just not used to being at a school where everyone is, well…unique."

"I don't see what there is to be sorry about. I accepted my new life when I lost my legs when I was a kid." She looks down at her metallic legs. "I'm not sure about everyone else, but most of us here are used to our disability and accept it as part of our lives."

"I don't think I can accept being here. I like my old life; it wasn't much but I was okay with it. Now knowing that life can be taken away from me in any second, I don't see the point of trying anymore," I begin to whine.

"Not everybody lives, but everybody dies. So, why not shoot for the sky?" shifting her eyes from her legs to the orange tinted sky above us. "Even if you fall out of the sky, at least you did something that most people don't ever attempt. You're given this life to try again, so why not make the most out of it?" she finishes as she stretches her arms over her head, before leaning back.

I'm speechless. Her words cut deep, like blades impaling me. It's true, I wasn't really doing much before my heart attack, just kind of did the average school life. But now that I'm thrown into a new world, I can't curl up in a fetal position and wait for this to end. Life has me given a second chance to live and I should at least give it my all. I continue to stare at Molly, it seem like her words struck a chord with me.

"Thanks, I needed someone to talk to about being new at this school," feeling a burden lift off my shoulders.

Molly turns her head to face me, "It's nothing. I know what it's like to be thrown into a new world. We moved to Japan when I lost my legs."

"So where did you live before?"

"India," replying with humble smile. However, Molly's smile soon fades away when she looks at her prosthetics. "We moved here to get treatment when I lost my legs."

"Do you ever think about going back?"

Molly closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, as if to think over my question. Her face shows reminiscence of nostalgia with a hint of sadness. She begins to play with her left braided hair, while her face changes to a worry look. After a while, she stops playing with her hair and opens her eyes, like she found the right answer.

"At times, but I don't think...," she begins before being cut off by someone yelling at our direction.

"Hey Molly! What are you doing here! It's time to go!" a voice yells at a distance.

Molly lets out a sigh, dusting herself off as she gets up.

"Sorry Hisao, but I must take my leave now," she says, giving me a small smile, as she walks towards the direction of the voice. "Catch you some other time, okay?"

I turn my attention to the owner of the voice and spot a slightly older person, possibly in their early 20's. The man has blonde hair, with some spikes sticking out. He looks to be somewhat taller than me, and he's wearing stoic expression. Who is this guy? And what is his connection to Molly?

I stared at the mismatched couple as they disappear around the corner of the main building. After some time, I get up and dust myself off. I take another look around the garden, which now static.

"It looks like I have to come by again to see another performance," I yawn, before heading to my dorm.

I open the door to my room and drop my bag next to my desk. Taking a seat in my chair, I stare at the arrangement of bottles on my desk; the drugs that I have to take to stay alive. I grab each bottle and swallow a dose of pills from each one, and continue until I'm done. It hasn't been a week and I already loathe my daily ritual.

After staring at the bottles, I make my way to my bed and collapse face first into the stiff pillow. The scent of hospital grade detergent begins to intrude into my nostrils, so I turnover to stare at the ceiling. Shadows stretch across it with the setting sun. I try to make out any shapes that form, before becoming entranced by a particular silhouette.

I continue to stare at the orange ceiling, until it changes to a purple tint. The shadows soon take over the light, and soon the darkness swallows me. I slowly drift out of consciousness to meet a beautiful lady named Sleep. She is dressed exceptionally elegantly this time around. In her twilight colored dress, I find it's hard to ignore her. But before I can embrace her with open arms, I think about what Molly said earlier.

" _Not everybody lives, but everybody dies. So, why not shoot for the sky? Even if you fall out of the sky, at least you did something that most people don't ever attempt. You're given this life to live, so why not make the most out of it?"_

I ponder on that thought for a good while before I join Sleep for our nightly dance.


	3. Strange Terrain

Strange Terrain  
 _The school's festival is here, and Hisao contemplates on how to spend it_

"…can stay we like this for a little while longer?..."

"…sorry, but you know how this goes…"

"…i know…but I don't want to go back. Not yet…"

"…don't worry. You know where to find me…"

"…how will I know you will be here next time?..."

"…trust me. I'm not going anywhere…"

I wake up in a cold sweat. It was one of those dreams I've been getting lately. I don't know if it's a side effect from the medications, or my mind is trying to tell me something, or maybe it's both. Whatever the case might be, I should probably tell the nurse about it when I have the chance.

Rubbing out the gift Sleep left me, I sit up on my bed and stretch before glancing at my clock. 12:06 it reads.

"Good thing that there's no classes today," thinking out loud. Outside, I hear voices of a large crowd. "Oh yeah, the school's festival is today."

I finish up swallowing the last dose of my pills and contemplate on whether I should stay in my room or go to the festival. "I do need to catch up on my studies, but it'll be hard to focus with all the commotion going outside," I say to myself. Just then, my stomach begins to growl, "I can at least try some of the food before studying. I hope it beats the food at the cafeteria."

The smell of the food is overbearing for me to comprehend. I should probably start off with some gyozas. I walk my way to the line to get some of that delicious pot sticker. When I get in line, I hear a familiar voice and I flinch at an instant.

"What the hell are doing?" Emi puffs up her cheeks in frustration.

"Aw shit," I say under my breath, looks like I've been busted. "I was umm…getting some lunch to fuel my brain, so when I study."

Emi frowns at my excuse, as if calling out my lie. "Then why are you line for this junk? You should be eating food that is good for your body, not this fried stuff. And besides, you're supposed to be eating healthy, you're on a diet, remember?" Emi reinforces her statement crossing her arms with a stern face.

Damn. I thought I'll least able to sneak in one meal before going on this diet. My head hangs low. I look back at Emi guilty, "You're right, I need to start looking out for my health as well."

Emi breaks her tough act with her usual happy smile, "As you should be, I don't want you dying on me like the other day." Emi looks down for a second and I swear I hear her mumble "I messed up." The twin tail girl looks up and a nervous giggle comes out her mouth. "I mean, glad I found you before you ate that greasy food. I was about to go meet Rin for lunch. Would you like to join us?"

"I would but I need to catch up with school work," I begin before Emi starts to do her trademark puppy dog stare. "But I guess I can join you two for lunch," as I change my answer to accept her offer, Emi smiles once again. How does she do that? I need to do a counterattack next time she does her innocent stare.

"Awesome! Let's get Rin first!" Emi shouts as she grabs my hand and starts to drag me along.

Before we make it to the boys' dorm, I break away from Emi. "Let me catch my breath for a second."

"We hardly walked for a few minutes," she turns to me. "You're out of shape, Hisao. And you wanted to get that fried whatever it was." A smile approaches her face, "I can't be the only one looking out for your health, but I'll kick your ass if I catch you cheating on me."

My face feels warm all of a sudden. What does she mean cheating on her? Are we dating now?

"On your diet, dummy!" she laughs at my fantasy. Emi winks at me, "You have to at least try to have a chance with me."

"Can't blame a guy," laughing to hide my embarrassment.

We make our way towards the boys' dorm and we spot Rin sitting on the right side of her mural. She looks tired, maybe she spent all day yesterday painting. It looks complete the last time I saw it, helping her mix paint for it. Rin spots us and she stands up from the wooden box. Her face tells that she is sore.

"You took forever," Rin says.

"Sorry Rin!" Emi apologizes. "I ran into Hisao."

Rin shift her eyes, as if she just saw me "Did she knock you down again?"

"How you know that?"

"Emi told me," Rin smirks. I should have guessed that, considering they're friends. "Are you buying me lunch for taking so long?"

"Why would I do that? I was kidnapped by her," pointing at my small companion.

"Aren't you a little too old to be kidnap? For Emi, it's okay because she still looks like a kid."

"Rin, stop it!" Emi shouts at Rin. "Don't worry I'll buy you lunch."

Rin smiles "Good."

"Come on, let's go get lunch!" Emi blurts out.

Rin looks at her mural and back to Emi with a concern look. "But I'm supposed to stay here to show my mural."

"You can at least leave for lunch," Emi smiles at Rin, trying her best to convince her.

Rin stares blankly at Emi for a few moments, and shakes her head.

Emi grabs Rin's sleeve and drags her, "Come on, let's eat lunch by the track field." She looks at me as to tell me "Let's go." I follow her lead.

We make our way towards the track field and take a seat on the grass next to the bleachers. Emi hands Rin her food. I've seen Rin eat her food a couple of times before, but I'm still in awe by her dexterity of her feet. She makes it look like a walk in the park.

I dig into my plate after Rin catches me staring. For a healthy meal, it tastes really good. Well, any food tastes amazing after eating food from the cafeteria for a week. I swear that the food here is the only thing that has a disability. I finish my food and pat my stomach, "That was actually pretty delicious."

Emi looks up and swallows her food. She smiles at me, "I told you so. You better get use to this because this is going to be what you're going to eat from now on."

"I can't have a cheat day every now and then?"

"No way! I'm going to kick your ass if you do. Then make you run extra if I find out,' the twintail cutie threatens with a serious look. It's hard to take her seriously, knowing I'm being intimidated by a girl who I can see over.

"I like to see you try," I tease.

"Is that a challenge? If it is, then you're out of luck," furrowing her brow as to take my word serious.

Before Emi and I can make the move, Rin drops her fork and stands up. We both stare at Rin by her sudden movements. She makes a worry face and stares intently towards Emi. "Emi I need your help with something."

Confuse by Rin's action, Emi stands up and walks towards the red headed girl. The two of them begin to whisper back and forth. Emi faces changes from a confuse one to more relax one. She turns to me. "Sorry Hisao, but it looks like we have to end our lunch. I have to help Rin with something."

Rin starts talking before I could say anything. "Sorry Hisao but I just had my period. I need to go with Emi to help me change. I would have asked you to join, but since we are not at the level of friendship, I don't think you could help me. Maybe if we were closer, I might ask you, but since Emi is here, I can trust her more because she has done this before."

I stare at Rin at a loss of words. This is the first time I hear Rin speak clearly and direct. It's weird that it has to be about that, but she was clear about it without a doubt. All I can do is nod my head.

"Well see you in the morning Hisao," Emi says as she throws away her trash.

Rin stares at me with her dark green eyes, "I can't say the same because I can't predict the future, so I'll say goodbye."

"Bye," is all I could muster up.

I see the two halves of a full body walk off to the girls' dorm. Standing up to dust myself off, I begin to my way back to my room to study.

As I make my way back to the boys' dorm, I spot Molly standing in line with a group of classmates. She spots me and waves me down.

"Hisao! Over here!" she shouts but it's barely audible through the crowd's chatter.

As I get closer, I see two fellow classmates. One is a guy who wears a weird hat that sits next to Shizune. He looks bored or annoyed when I approach them. Another is a girl with long light brown hair that sits next to the girl missing her left hand. I hate to describe classmates like that, but I haven't had the time to talk to any other classmates besides a few. The last girl, I have not seen before. She is in a wheelchair and has shoulder length teal hair.

"How are you enjoying the festival?" Molly asks in her calm tone.

"It's alright. I had some lunch with Emi and Rin before Rin had a problem. I thought I'll head back to my room to study."

"You want to join us for a bit? We were about to buy some snacks before playing some games," she invites.

"I don't know. I really need to catch up on my homework."

"Alright, good luck then. See you in class tomorrow."

"Bye Molly," I say as I continue my way to the boys' dorm. As I do, I stop in my tracks and think to myself. Why should I study? There's a festival today, and I want to stay in my room. The hell is wrong with me? I can at least enjoy today and make some friends. I can at least do that. With my mind made up, I walk back to join Molly and her group of friends.

"I think I can enjoy the festival a little bit longer," I say when I approach Molly.

"Great! You remember our classmates right?"

"I do but I don't think I remember their names," giving a nervous laugh.

"That's because you haven't ask us our names," the boy in the hat exclaims.

I rub the back of my head in embarrassment. I haven't made much of an effort to know the names of my classmates.

"Anyways, I'm Takashi Maeda." He says in an annoyed tone.

"And I'm Ikuno Komaki," the brown hair girl joins in while she removes her headphones.

"I'm Hisao Nakai."

"We know who you are, new guy," Takashi says sarcastically.

"Oh, so you're the new guy," the wheelchair girl finally speaks up. "How does it feel to be out of Kansas, Dorothy?

"Dorothy?" I question cocking my head to the side in confusion. Did she not hear my name?

"Yeah, Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. It's a movie classic," wheelchair girl begins to explain, but it goes over my head. "Anyway, I'm Asuka Kasugano."

"Ehh, nice to meet you too, Kasugano."

"So what brought you here?" Asuka asks.

I furrow my brow, "Pardon?"

"What's your disability is what she is getting at," Ikuno clarifies, as she turns back to face the line.

I hesitate for a second on whether if I should answer or not. I only told Rin about my arrhythmia and no one else since. I should at least be more open about. I take in a deep breath, "I have arrhythmia. It means I have an irregular heartbeat."

"Messed up heart? Well I guess I should call you Tin Man," Asuka giggles.

"Well that's a shame," Molly replies. "It's good that they found out sooner than later," trying her best to cheer me up.

"I'm a paraplegic, so I'm stuck in this mean machine," Asuka happily says, while rolling back in forth in her wheelchair.

Takashi shakes in head in disbelief, "We can all see that, you idiot."

"Shut up, you asshole!" Asuka screams while punching Takashi in the leg.

Molly lets out a soft chuckle and looks at me, as to say that this happens a lot. She stops laughing and looks at Asuka. "Asuka, you don't have to get so violent with Takashi."

Asuka pouts as she turns head away from us. "He started it, tell that ass to apologize to me," whining to Molly.

"I told you many times, it doesn't matter who started it, you have to be the bigger person."

She looks down and rolls back in forth in her wheelchair before looking at Takashi, who looks like he wants to leave the line. "I'm sorry," she murmurs.

"Yea, whatever."

Molly stares at Takashi with a disapproving look, "Why do you have to act like this?"

Ikuno turns back to us and grabs our attention. "Hey, we're up next."

"About time," Takashi sighs.

"What can I get for you today?" the student running the cashier asks.

"Molls, can you buy me something please."

Molly turns to face Asuka and rubs her hair, "Sure, what do you want?"

"Thanks Molls, you're the best!"

We all take turns buying snacks, besides Asuka, who Molly buys her a small bag of cookies. I buy myself popcorn. Sorry Emi, but this counts as a healthy snack. Well it does come from corn and corn is a vegetable. I continue to lie to myself that I'm following Emi's orders. She won't know about this anyway, plus I already ate a healthy lunch, so I deserve this.

After everyone buys snacks, we make our way to the game stands and stop at a fishing game. The point of the game is you are given a little fishing rod and you have one chance to catch a fish, but in this case they're ducks. The ducks have a color on the bottom of them, that coordinate to which prize you've won. Most of the ducks have nothing on them, so this game is based on skill and luck. We almost pass the booth until Asuka spots one of the prizes to be a purple stuffed cat.

"Can we play this game? I really want that purple cat. It's cute!~" Asuka shouts in joy.

"These games are rigged, plus the cat looks like it was bought from a second-hand store," Takashi teases Asuka.

Asuka turns to Takashi shouting, "Shut up! You're just saying that because you want it for yourself!"

"Yes, I want this cat for myself. It will look nice next to my stuffed rabbit."

"I knew it!"

"The cat is pretty cute," Ikuno chimes in with a small smile.

"I guess we can play this game to start off," Molly suggests.

"No thanks, but I rather save my money. I think I'm going to hang out with some of the members of the art club," Takashi says, as he walks away. "Catch you in class tomorrow, Molly. Bye Ikuno. See you New Guy."

I let out a sigh, "Its Hisao."

"Well whatever. Bye everyone." Takashi waves as he leaves.

"Bye Takashi," Ikuno whispers, hiding her mouth with her hands. She regains her composure, "So shall we play?"

"Come and let's win that stuffed cat for me!" Asuka shouts.

Molly smiles at Asuka "I'll try my best."

"I guess I can give it a shot," Ikuno joins. "I think it'll be fun if we all play."

"Are you going to play too, Dorothy?"

"My name is Hisao. Is it hard to remember?" I whine.

Molly puts her hand on my shoulder, "Don't worry about it. Friends joke around all time. Didn't you do the same at your old school?"

It's been so long since I saw my friends from my old school. I spent four months in the hospital. My friends stopped visiting me after the first week and the mood was different when they visited. They were always quiet and didn't know what to say most of the time. I tried my best to not look sad, but I guess I wasn't very good at it. The only person that visited me regularly was Iwanako, but she stopped visiting too. I have a new chance to make friends.

I look at Molly and smile at her. Then I turn to Asuka, gawking at the cat. "What the hell, you can count me in."

"Aweome!" Asuka exclaims.

We all go to the booth, pay for our plastic fishing rod and position ourselves around the small makeshift pond. The ducks swim around the pond in a clockwise fashion, so it'll be hard to pick out which one has which color for the prize. Not only that, we are given one chance to fish out the duck. Meaning, even if one of got the right duck, fishing it will also require skills.

We decided we will go at once as to increase our odds in winning the prize. We all look at each other and nod our heads in confidence. "In 3, 2, 1, Fish!" Asuka shouts.

We lower our small fishing rods into the pond and try to fish out a duck. Molly gets the first bite and tries to fish out the duck, but the duck falls off the rod and splashes back into the pond.

"Looks like I lost. Well maybe next time," she smiles to Asuka.

Ikuno struggles in hooking a duck, but she manages to catch one. "I got one," she casually says. She flips the duck over to reveal the color. "I got the color blue. I wonder what prize I got."

"That would be the small prize, miss," the vendor answers. He pulls out a paper fan and hands it to Ikuno. "Better luck next time."

"Oh, well, at least this will come in handy," Ikuno cheers herself up.

Asuka is next to get a bite and she eagerly pulls her fishing rod. The force in which she pulls causes the duck to fly off her fishing rod and lands on the floor.

"Sorry, but I have to disqualify you miss," the vendor breaks the bad news.

"No Fair! Get better equipment next time, old man!" shouts Asuka in a fit of rage.

"Old? I'm barely in my mid-30s," he refutes.

"Whatever grandpa."

The three girls crowd around me and I feel pressure being put on me out of nowhere. They are all relying on me to win the prize. Shit. I don't know if I can do this now.

"Take it easy when you reel in the duck," Ikuno advises.

"It's alright if you don't win, as long as you had fun," Molly assures me.

I look towards Asuka, who puts her hands together and pleads "Help me, Dorothy, you're my only hope. I really want that stuffed cat."

I look at the duck I want to fish out. I carefully try to hook my reel on it. The girls slowly lean forward, anticipating for the moment of truth. It hooks on to my reel, and now I have to pull it out of the water to claim victory. Asuka cheers as I manage to successfully claim the duck. I grab the duck and turn it over to see what color I got; green.

I turn to the vendor to ask, "What does the green color mean?"

"That's the first time I've seen someone got that color today," the vendor says. "But it's the medium-sized prize. Good catch kid," he says as he throws me a small dog plushy

I catch the gray plushy and stare at it. It's small dog with jiggly eyes, and it has a dumb expression on its face. I walk towards the group of girls, who are happy to see that I won a prize. Asuka is frustrated a bit, maybe because no one won the stuffed cat. Ikuno looks indifferent but she claps her hands to cheer. Molly is the only who looks happy that I won the dog.

"Congratulations, Hisao," cheers Molly.

"Good job. It looks rather cute, even with its rather humorous expression," Ikuno laughs at the dog.

"At least someone won a good prize. Good work," Asuka adds, she sounds rather annoyed about losing.

"Well it's not a cat, but I hope you like dogs, Asuka."

"Sorry but dogs are disgusting. You can keep it. You can name it Toto," Asuka jokes.

"Ikuno, you want it?" turning towards her.

"No, I'm not really into stuffed animals. Thanks for offering though."

Looks like I only have one person left to ask now. "Molly, you want this?"

"I would like to, but it wouldn't feel right for me to accept this gift without giving you a gift in return," Molly peacefully denies my offering.

"It's okay. You helped me out a lot yesterday. If anything you can always return the favor another time."

She stares at me for a few seconds without saying a word. I'm not sure what is going through her head, but eventually she takes the gray dog. "I'll have to make sure what I give you is something nice," she smiles, her cheeks turning a slight red.

We continue to walk around the game stalls and play some more games. We don't have much luck on winning but we do manage to win some small prizes, mostly candy. The sun begins to set as we begin to make our way to buy something to drink, when Ikuno's watch alarm goes off.

"Sorry, but I have to go take my insulin shot now. I'll see you tomorrow in class Molly. Hisao, it was nice meeting. You are a nice person to hang out with," she adds the last part with a small bow.

"Can I give you your shot, Iku?" Asuka asks with a bow.

"As long as you're gentle this time around,"

"I'm sorry, it's just that it was my first time and I was a little nervous."

"Well take it easy this time around, please."

"Don't worry."

"Bye Molls. See you around Dorothy, I mean Hisao. You're not that bad of a person."

Molly and I wave goodbye to the pair as Asuka begins to talk rapidly to Ikuno, who wears a slightly embarrass expression. I wonder what she is talking about so excitedly.

We walk around the stalls to find something to drink. Unfortunately, the stalls are closing and people are beginning to head towards the track field. I wonder why they are heading there. Is there some sort of performance being held?

I turn to Molly, who looks at peace. She looks to have the same peaceful expression when I saw her at the garden yesterday. I feel bad to interrupt her little bliss, but I hope she doesn't mind. "Why are people heading to the track field?" I break the silence with a question.

Molly snaps out of her little day dream and focuses her attention to me. "They are going there to see the fireworks. Last year, the school couldn't afford them, but this year, I guess they had the budget for them," she answers in her calm tone of hers.

"Wow, a lot of people are sure excited for them," I comment while the crowd starts to move in a herd like fashion. "Do you want to watch the fireworks?"

"I would love to. Let's go watch them at the garden. We will get a better view of them than the track field," Molly insists.

"Sure, sounds good to me. But can we get something to drink along the way? I'm pretty thirsty."

She nods her head in agreement, and we make our way to the garden. We stop by the vending machine by the main building and I buy two orange sodas. I hand one to Molly and she thanks me with a smile. We continue to make our way to the garden in silence, until Molly finally speaks.

"So did you enjoy the festival?"

"I really did, I'm really glad that I ran into you when I did," I thank her.

"Why's that?

"I probably would have been bored in my room, or even worse, spent it on the rooftop with my neighbor. I think he's a little on the crazy side. He's talks about how this school is run by feminists."

"Oh, he sounds like a real fun person to be around with," she jokes with a small laugh.

"Yeah, he said something about having a picnic on the rooftop. I think it's a little strange for two guys to have a picnic on the roof alone."

"The roof is pretty scary. I heard that the fences are loose and someone can fall off if they are not careful."

We make our way to the garden. The once awe taking sight is now covered in darkness, except the glow reflecting from the moon. It almost has an enchanted and almost unworldly presence to it. It feels like we are intruding a forbidden land, but we continue to walk towards the pond. The pond reflection of the starry night serves to be a mirror to another world on the ground.

I continue to stare of the watery reflection before seeing a red explosion appear in the water. Focusing my gaze upwards, I see more spark trails shoot up into the sky, disappearing briefly before transforming into different colored explosions. They are truly remarkable, as they look like giant fiery snowflakes. Each firework looks different than the next. I turn to Molly, who is taken away by the fireworks. She holds the small stuffed dog close to her, like a little child holding onto their favorite stuffed animal. Molly dark-colored eyes reflect each firework and I am truly lost in her eyes as they serve as my new mirror to see the display.

As quickly as the fireworks appeared, they vanish, leaving a trail of smoke in the dark sky. Molly turns to face me and notice me staring at her. She smiles and laughs a little, "Did you enjoy the fireworks?"

I fidget in my spot and let out a nervous laugh, "I really did. I enjoyed spending today with you…I mean with everyone," I save myself but the heat in my cheeks tell me another story. "I like your friends. They're nice."

Molly grins and fixes her hair, "They like you too, especially Asuka. Ikuno thinks you are nice. She doesn't express it, but she had a good time, even when Takashi left. She usually puts her headphones on and ignores us," Molly explains.

"And Takashi? He kept calling me new guy," I mention while balling my fist. Him calling me new guy got to me. I felt insulted.

Molly looks down, "Well Takashi thinks you're okay. He's has a hard time meeting new people. Give him some time and I'm sure he'll be friendly to you in no time," she smiles to encourage me. Her smile soon fades as quickly as it appeared. "Do you have the time?"

I look at my watch, "20:04. Why? You got to return to your dorm for something?"

Molly begins to stroke her left braid with her free hand, "No, I have to meet my brother. He said he'll come by at 20:00. I don't want to make him wait for too long."

"Oh, I bet he'll understand why you might be a few minutes late. You said the school festival didn't have fireworks last year. Maybe he got distracted watching them like everyone else," I try my best to cheer Molly up.

My attempt seems to be in vain because Molly hangs her head down and slowly begins to walk away. She picks up her head and sighs, "I hope so, he's been having it rough lately and I don't want to add to the problems."

"Oh Molly," I call out her. "Is it okay if I join in meditating again some time? I really enjoyed it yesterday and thought it'll be fun to try it again."

Molly turns back to me and I see a smile stretch across her face. She nods her head, "Sure any time. It's nice to have a person join. I'll let you know next time," she says as she slowly fades away into the darkness.


	4. Daily Routine

**Daily Routine**

*beep* *beep* *beep*

I wake to the sound of my alarm clock. I welcome the sound with the bang of my fist. Lifting my head from under the pillow, I am greeting by the light invading my eyes and I rub them to get adjusted. I look at the clock to check the time, 6 o'clock. It's too early for any student to be awake. No, scratch that, it's too early for most students besides one twintail track member and her running partner.

"Why did I ever agree to this?" I think to myself, as I sit up on my bed. The answer becomes clear when I look over to my desk. 17 pill bottles stare directly at me, as if to tell me, "We are the reason." Not wanting to keep my partner waiting and fear any punishment, I get up from my bed and put on my old soccer clothes, before swallowing my pills. I take one more look at my bed before I head out of the room.

The sun is beginning to wake up as well when I leave the boys' dorm. There is a gentle wind blowing on the right side of my face and a chill soon follows it. The birds are chirping and there are some students wandering about. It seems like there is more life at this hour than I thought. I begin to make my way to the track field.

While walking there, I think back to yesterday. The school's festival was yesterday and I made some new friends. Molly's group of friends seems like a nice bunch to hang out with. Asuka is very loud and energetic person. If she had the chance, she might have ran around like a little kid at the festival. Ikuno seems like a decent person. She really didn't say much, but she looked like she enjoyed herself at the festival. Takashi on the other hand, I think he doesn't like me for one reason or another. I don't know what his deal is but I hope we can become friends. It'll be nice to have a guy friend that doesn't ramble on about crazy theories about girls at this school.

Still thinking about yesterday's events, I make it to the track field. Emi spots me while she does some of her stretches. She walks up towards me with a smile on her face. "I thought you wouldn't show 'cause of how busy you were yesterday," she laughs.

"What do you mean?"

"I saw you with three other girls at the game booths. You looked like some sort of master of romance when they crowded around you when you won."

Master of what? What does she mean by that? Well I did hang out with a few girls yesterday, but I was trying to make some new friends yesterday. The thought hanging out with a group of girls doesn't sound all that bad.

Emi waves her hand in front of my face to get my attention, "You boys are all the same. Bet you think you're hot stuff now."

I shake my head to brush away those thoughts, "No… I was thinking about…how fun running in the morning can be. It'll be nice to get in better shape, knowing I have someone to run with."

"Stop lying and start stretching," she commands while giving a stern look, but she breaks into a smile. "You're wasting time and I want you show to me how excited you are about running."

Taking a seat on the grass, Emi sits across me and begins to stretch. I follow her lead and instructions. The tension of my leg muscles begins to hurt as I try to touch my toes. It feels like my hamstring is going to rip.

"Okay, now hold my hands," my running partner instructs.

Hold her hands. Is this some kind of trick? Is she trying to lead me on? "What for?" my voice cracks a little.

"It's for a stretch and it requires another person for it," Emi answers. "Plus, like I said yesterday, you have to at least try to have a chance to get with me," she winks. "I'm not that easy. Now hold my hands."

I follow her orders and hold her hands. Emi's hands are small and soft to the touch. I could get used to holding her hands. Suddenly, I feel her pull me closer to her and feel my back pulling. Afterwards, she tells me to pull and I do.

"Now lie on your back and lift your leg up," she stands up and walks closer to me as I lie down. She grabs my right leg and pushes it towards me with her body against my leg. I think I can get used to these morning stretches if it means this.

After a few more stretches, we make our way to the track. Emi looks back towards me. "Take it easy if you are having trouble. I don't want a repeat of the other day," she looks down with her eyes drooping for a bit.

"Hey don't beat yourself about it. It was my fault for trying to show off to a track star. I guess I thought I was hot stuff," trying my best to cheer her up.

She looks up to meet my eyes and returns a smile. "Good, 'cause I don't want you to use that against me when I want something from you," she winks before she leaves me in a trail of dust. I soon follow her.

Finishing my last lap, I feel my veins begin to pump battery acid throughout my body. The pain starts to become unbearable. I start to slow my speed down to a gentle stroll, before Emi spots me and slows down as well.

"You doing okay there Hisao?" she asks wiping sweat off her forehead, but I don't think she's broken a sweat yet.

"I'm…good. Just…reached my…limit already," I reply, huffing out those words.

"Put your arms over your head. That way you can breathe easier."

I do as I'm told and put my arms up. Breathing has become significantly easier now. My lungs are able to fully expand, as I feel my heartbeat slow down to a steadier pace-, well steady enough for a person that has an irregular heartbeat. I continue to focus on my breathing, inhaling and exhaling. Everything around me begins to turn silent and it feels like the world around me is becoming non-existent.

"Earth to Hisao," I hear Emi call out to me. I open my eyes and see Emi waving her hand in front of my face.

"What happened?"

"Nothing. You look out of it and thought maybe I should check on you."

"Oh, I guess I kind of spaced out for a sec," I smile, laughing over the situation.

Emi joins in on my laughter. Her laugh is pretty cute. It suits her well for some reason and I would like to hear it more often. After our laughing dies down, she looks at me with a curious stare.

"You look so peaceful ."

"I guess running tired me out so much that I felt like sleeping!" I laugh as I rub the back of my head.

"Well anyway, I'm going to run some more laps. You should stop for today, you did really great and I'm impressed that you came today at all," she smiles at me. "See you tomorrow morning?"

I nod my head as I smile back, "Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow then."

Emi turns around and continues with her morning run. I stand there for a while before she laps me again; I head back to the boys' dorm.

I can't explain it, but taking a nice long shower after running seems so relaxing. Spending a lot more time in the shower than I usually do, I had to dress quickly because I thought I was going to be late for class. A quick glance at the clock in my room tells me that I have about 20 minutes before class starts. I contemplate on whether to head out to class or continue sitting in my desk chair. Staying in this chair feels right, but I can't stay here for too long.

Looking over at my desk, I see a 100 yen coin shine. Maybe I should leave this up to the coin to dictate my action. I grab the coin and flip it in the air. Heads, I head out to class, tails, I continue to sit and relax. The coin flips almost to the ceiling and I grab it before it lands on the desk. I slap the coin onto my left wrist to reveal the results. "Okay, maybe two out of three," I tell myself, disappointed by the outcome of the flip.

That is the last time I decide to flip a coin I think to myself as I walk into class. Most of the students look dead tired and I see a couple of empty seats. Takashi spots me and we lock eyes, but he looks down again at the book on his desk. "Well, good morning to you too," I whisper under my breath.

The rest of the students walk in gradually and I see Misha drag her feet, followed by Shizune, who looks annoyed by Misha's tiredness. They take their seats and Misha turns to me, "Morning Hicchan~!"

"Good morning Misha. Morning Shizune," I wave at the Student Council President with a small smile. "You look beat."

"Wahaha~!" she laughs; it seems as though she is trying to not lose her usual loud tone. "Shizune and I were busy looking over the school's festival. It was hard work, but we managed to make things work out."

Shizune peeks over at us before getting Misha's attention to sign something. Her hands look a little sluggish moving, but she tries her best to hide any exhaustion she has. They continue to sign back and forth, before I spot Molly and Ikuno walk through the door. They spot me, and I wave at them. They do the same before turning to each other.

A hand taps my desk to get my attention, "Well I guess we don't have to ask if you enjoyed the festival~~! Wahaha~!"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing~! Wahaha~!" Misha laughs once more, her voice making the other students regret coming to class. "We were looking for you yesterday to join us for the festival, but you weren't in your room. Shicchan got upset because she wanted to spend the festival with you~!"

"Why would she want to do that?" furrowing my brow. I bet she was trying to use a festival as a distraction to make me join the Student Council. Or maybe…no, that can't be it.

The bell rings and Molly and Ikuno take their seats. Molly smiles at me before she sits and I return the gesture.  
Mutou walks in after the bell and he looks worse than the students in the class. He looks to have a hangover or something because his eyes are bloodshot and he's holding the right side of his head.

Looks like Mutou doesn't want to teach, nor do the students feel like learning. So he decides to make us do book work again for the rest of the period. The rest of the class breathes a collective sigh of relief. Misha scoots her desk next to mine and Shizune joins us as well.

The work is nothing but reading, with barely any questions. We finish the work pretty quickly, which is good. The bad news is Misha and Shizune keep bugging me about yesterday. They turn to each other and sign back and forth, their hands becoming a blur to rapid for any person to keep up. I wouldn't be surprised if they were just waving their hands in circles. After a couple of minutes pass, they both turn to me, Misha with a big grin and Shizune looking on, as if studying me.

"So you were with Kapur and Komaki yesterday right Hicchan~?" she whispers to me-, well to her, she thinks she whispers. Mutou looks up from his book towards us and I look down before we make eye contact. I spot Molly flinch a little hearing Misha's question at the corner of my eye.

"How did you know?"

Misha turns to Shizune and they are at it again, "I didn't. I saw you wave at them. So I put two and two together."

"So what if I did? Is there anything wrong with that?" I say defensively, scratching my left arm.

"No, not at all. Just that Shicchan and I thought it would have been fun if Hicchan were to join us at the festival. But…," she pauses and looks ahead before turning to face me, "…it looks like you enjoyed the festival regardless."

"Um, thanks," is all I can say before the bell rings. The class and I let out a collecteve sigh as the first period is over. Just a couple more hours until lunch.

"And then, the alien started laughing like a maniac before its atomic bomb went off," Asuka continues her story.

"I think you should stop watching movies before sleeping. They'll make you stupid," Takashi replies, his face making the same annoyed face from earlier. I'm starting to think that is how his face just looks.

"You're just mad because the alien ripped out your spine."

Ikuno looks up from her notebook, "Could you keep it down a bit? I'm trying to catch up on my studying and you two are too loud."

"Sorry Iku, but Takashi is being a jerk," Asuka takes a bite into her rice ball. "What brought you here, Hisao?" turning her attention to me.

"Yeah, why are you here, New Guy?"

I look up from my pork bread, "I had fun hanging out with you guys yesterday at the festival, so I thought spending lunch with you guys today would be fun too." Honestly though, Misha and Shizune wanted me to join them for lunch, but the way Shizune was looking at me when Misha invited me, felt like they wanted me to do more paperwork. Luckily, Ikuno and Molly came just in time to invite me for lunch.

"I had a blast too! Even though we didn't win the purple cat yesterday," Asuka's voice lowers as her head hangs low; her teal bangs cover her eyes.

"Asuka couldn't stop complaining about the cat once we left," Ikuno closes her notebook and grabs her bottle of water.

"Well I really wanted that cat. It was so cute."

"I enjoyed the food," Molly joins in. "It was a lot better than last year, especially the fried tofu." I see her eyes widen from the thought. It makes me wish that I had been able to try them.

"The ramen tasted plain. How the hell do you forget to add seasoning?" Takashi complains. "I could have gotten better ramen from the convenience store."

"I didn't mind the ramen, at least it was hot, unlike last time," Ikuno puts opens up her notebook again and puts her earphones in.

"The fireworks were amazing too!" Asuka shouts out. I didn't know this school goes all out like that. "I wonder if they are going to top it for next year's festival."

I have to agree with Asuka about the fireworks. They were truly a sight to see from the garden last night. The darkness of the night being invaded by those colorful explosions. The reflection of the pond serving as a mirror to cast the fireworks. I think the best part about watching the fireworks, was seeing them in Molly's eyes. Her reaction was something that can't escape my mind. Her child-like awe in seeing the fireworks explodes into different colored patterns. The way she hugged onto the stuff gray dog plushy, it made me feel happy that I was there to witness it.

"Earth to Hisao," I hear a voice call to my left. It's Molly. "The bell rang. It's time to go back to class."

I nod and finish up the last of my canned coffee before standing up.

"… _so what is your answer?..."_

"…what was the question again?..."

she lets out a giggle,"…do you like the day or night?..."

"…i don't know. i need more time to think it over…"

"…take you time. it's not like i am going anywhere…."

I open my eyes, the pond comes into view. The stillness of the pond makes it seems as if time has stopped. Birds chirping in the distance are the only indication that time is still in motion.

"'I think I'm getting used to this meditation thing," turning to Molly, who is still meditating.

"Meditation is a great way to relax after a long day," her peaceful voice answers. "It also helps when you're under stress."

"Does it?"

"Well anything that can take your mind off problems. Everyone has that one thing they do to get away from their problems," she opens her eyes; there is a brief sadness to them. Molly stretches her arms before standing up.

I think I understand what she means. When I was at the hospital, I would read books non-stop every day to take away that thought of being a prisoner there. Days became a blur and reading books helped a lot coping with my new life. I wonder what other students do to take their mind off their problems.

"I'm sorry Hisao, but I have to go now. My brother wants to go out for dinner tonight, and I have to go and change," she smiles.

"Okay, same time tomorrow then?"

"Sorry, but I have some errands to run tomorrow. I'll let you know when I'm available."

I nod my head, "Okay, sounds good to me." I stand up and dust myself off. "Bye Molly."

"See you tomorrow in class," Molly waves with a smile, before leaving the garden.

I stare at the pond for a few moments before doing the same.

I close my science book as I finish my homework for today. The sun has begun to set, as my room takes on an orange tint. The cicadas cry out their song from the outside world. I close my eyes to relax; it has been an interesting day. Started committing to exercising, Misha and Shizune interrogating me about yesterday, and still trying to catch up with my classes. My mind begins to wander off and I feel my eyelids become heavy.

The sound of my watch going off brings me out of my relaxed state. I open my eyes and the orange tint of the room has now become a dark violet. I must have taken a nap; I turn on the light, and the color of the room changes color once more. I stretch my arms and back, before I change out of my uniform. The cool breeze from the window creeps in and it feels nice against my skin. I swallow down my pills and head to my bed. The bed is still uncomfortable for my liking, but it sure beats the one at the hospital. Just thinking about the hospital feels like it was ages ago, even though it's been about a week since I left.

I grab a book I borrowed from the library from the nightstand. Thumbing through to where I last left off, I let out a yawn. I must be more tired than I thought because the words on the pages become a blur after a few minutes of reading. Well there's always tomorrow, is the last thought before I drift off to sleep.

*beep* *beep* *beep*

I wake up to the sound of my alarm clock.


	5. Inner Shade

Inner Shade  
 _Little details can mean more than they seem._

"That will be 1750 yen sir," the cashier rings up the total.

I pull out two folded up 1000 yen notes from my dark brown wallet. I straighten them out and hand them to the old man behind the counter, "Here you go."

The cashier grabs the notes and counts them before punching some buttons on the register until it opens. He places the notes in and proceeds to pick up coins. He drops a coin and fumbles to pick it up. The cashier picks up the 100 yen coin and extends his short arm, "Here is your change. Have a good day sir."

"Thank you," I bow before leaving the liquor store.

I'm running low on money. If this continues to go like this, maybe it would be best to try to save money; maybe see if I could find a part time job.

I begin to make my thread uphill towards school. I tighten the grip on my bag as I reach an incline of the hill. It's funny looking back a few weeks ago, where I had to take breaks to catch my breath. I still have some difficulties walking up, but I don't get winded as easily. Hell, I probably would have passed out before my heart attack walking up this hill.

Reaching to the top of the hill, I see the gates to the school. Sorry hill, but it seems I won this round, though you put up a great fight. My breaths are heavy, but I feel good to continue on. Getting closer to the entrance, I spot Molly and Ikuno waiting at the bus stop. They spot me and wave me down.

"Hello," I greet, catching my breath.

"You okay over there?" Ikuno asks with little to no concern in her voice.

"I'm alright. Just … this hill takes a while …. to get used to."

"I think all of the students had that problem at one time or another. For a school that caters towards people like us, you think they put the school in a more convenient spot," Ikuno rambles.

"I agree," Molly nods. "But at least the school picked a nice location."

She looks off into the horizon. Ikuno and I follow Molly's gaze. The sun is beginning to set. The orange tint of the sun contrasts to the silhouette buildings from the town below. Of all the times walking up and down this hill, I have never notice the scenery. It's the simple things we ignore that can be breath taking.

"So are you two going into the city this late?" I break the silence.

"Well, you could say that," Molly answers. She pauses for a second. "I live in the city."

"How come you don't live here?"

"Some families can't afford the housing fee the school has, so some students live off campus."

I never put much thought into it. Well Yamaku does try its best to emulate being a normal school. So students living in their homes and attending school is also an option. Thinking more about this, I wonder how my parents are able to afford the housing fees.

Ikuno taps Molly on her shoulder and she jumps a little, "Your bus is coming."

Coming up the hill, the white bus slows down upon reaching the bus stop. The loud screech of the brakes makes me wince. The door opens up with a whoosh sound that only a bus door can produce. It's weird hearing these sounds again after such a long time. It reminds me of when I would take the bus to school. Talking to friends and going to the arcade after school.

"I'll see you tomorrow Ikuno," Molly says. Her voice takes me out of my little reminiscent of my past life.

"Bye Molly," Ikuno hugs her. "I'll call you tonight."

"Okay! Bye Hisao," she waves at me as she enters the bus.

"Bye."

She walks up the steps and pays the fare. The old bus driver smiles and bows before closing the door. He revs up the engine and drives down the road. The bus disappears as it turns a left behind the hill.

"She's going to come back tomorrow," Ikuno jokes.

"I know," I feel my cheeks heat up just a bit.

She laughs, "Well I'm going to head back to my room; would you mind walking back with me?"

"Okay."

We walk through the school gates and proceed down the walkway. It's a pretty quiet walk. I don't know what to say; I hardly know Ikuno despite hanging out with her on a daily basis. She usually keeps to herself and doesn't really speak much during lunch or at all now that I can think about it.

Ikuno looks at me, before she faces forward again. It seems like she wants to say something but is afraid to say it.

"What's up?" I break the silence.

"Oh. Nothing."

"Come on. You can say it. I don't mind."

She takes in a deep breath. Her chest expands as if her lungs are going to pop like a balloon having too much air inside it. Ikuno lets the air leave her body and I was sure she shrunk a little.

"Do you like this school?" she finally asks what was on her mind.

"Well, I guess so. It's only been a few weeks, but I think I'm getting use to this place."

"Oh, I see," unimpressed by my answer.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Oh, no reason. Just curious," she looks down.

"A-alright then. Guess this is where we part ways. See you tomorrow, Ikuno," I wave.

"Um yeah. Thanks for walking with me. Bye."

Ikuno walks towards the girl's dorm, almost looking defeated. I hope it wasn't something I said. As she walks towards the door to the girl's dorm, I decide to head back to my room.

I enter the boy's dorm and begin to make my way up the stairs. As I reach my floor, I see somebody leaning against my door. Oh great, I have to endure one of Kenji's rants again. Last time he invited me to go to his room and discuss a recon mission to steal books from the library. As I walk closer, I am able to make out the person.

That's not Kenji; it's Takashi. What's he doing here? I haven't seen him since he left during lunch. How long has he's been waiting for me?

"You sure took your time," he greets in his usual annoy like tone.

"I was in town. I had to buy some supplies. How long have you been waiting here?"

"It doesn't matter," he stands up. "Could you help me out?"

"What was that?"

"Can you help me? Science isn't my best subject. And since you did well on the last test, maybe you can help me out."

This is unexpected. I would never think in a million years that Takashi would ask me for help. I started to think there was bad blood between us ever since the school festival. Guess things are looking up.

"Y-yeah. I could try to help you out."

"Thanks," he mumbles.

I fetch my keys in my pocket and unlock my door, "Well come in."

Takashi walks in a few steps and looks around my room curious like a cat scanning his environment. There is not much to see in my room. It's pretty bare and reminds me the hospital room. Though the paint color is different, but pretty much has the same feel to it. He walks towards my desk and leans on it, folding his arms.

"So you're neighbors with that weird guy with the scarf?" he speaks up.

"Well weird is too nice to call him," I let out a chuckle.

"He came out of his room. Thought I was you and began going off about how he needed your help distracting the librarian to get books," he looks away for a second before turning back. "Something about how he can't get them because Hakimachi banned him from checking out books. Then he asked me for money to buy some supplies. So I gave it to him and he left."

"Why would you give him money? He's not going to give it back. He still owes me money for pizza."

"It's not a big deal," he pulls out his wallet and takes out some money. "Here."

"I can't take that. I wouldn't feel right you just giving me money like that," I decline, though it would be nice to have some extra cash.

"Well whatever," he stuffs the notes back into his wallet.

"Anything in particular that you need help on?"

Takashi stands up and takes a few steps towards me, "Chemical bonds."

"It's not too difficult but I'll try to my best," I begin my lecture..

"So ionic bonding is when one element loses its electron and gives it to another one so it can complete its outer shell. Then those elements are attracted to each other," I finish up my little lecture.

Takashi leans back in the chair, covering his eyes, as if he wants to be anywhere but here. I look at my watch; it's only been an hour. The sun is nowhere to been seen.

"I think that is enough for today. Maybe we can continue another day?"

Takashi breathes a sigh of relief. He stands up from the chair and stretches his arms, "You hungry? Cause I am starving."

"It hadn't cross my mind," I hear my stomach growl. "But now that you mention it, I'm getting hungry myself."

"Alright let's go," he makes his way to the door.

I lock up my door and catch up to Takashi, as he is halfway down the hall. Guess he's really hungry because he didn't wait for me. "Where are we going?"

"My dorm," he says casually. I bought some food while I was in town the other day. I bought a little more than I thought."

"I see," I reply, as we make our way to the stairs.

We walk down to the second floor and we make a left and continue down the hallway towards the end of it. Takashi puts his left hand on the doorknob and turns it.

"It's nothing special but here's my room," he opens the door.

I take a few steps. His room looks doesn't look like a dorm. He has a small tv on his desk, a mini fridge in the corner, and some paintings on the wall. How can he afford such things in his room?

"Your room is something else," is all I can say as I walk in.

"It's nothing special, just some stuff my parents send me. I think they overdo it honestly. I don't know why they sent me here in the first place," he replies as he takes off his jacket. "You thirsty?"

"A little."

Takashi makes his way to the fridge and crouches down to open it. I look around his room and spot a picture frame face down on his desk. Kind of odd, but it's none of my concern. Next to the picture frame is a DVD player, with some movies sitting on top of the black device. They are all in a foreign language. I think it might be English, as I can only read out [2001: A ########].

"Orange or grape?" Takashi calls out.

"Orange is fine."

He stands up and closes the fridge with his foot. The fridge makes a small thud as it closes and he hands me the can of orange juice.

"Thanks," I open the can. It makes a loud pop when I open it and some of the juice flies out and land on the top of the can. I take a sip and feel the cool liquid make its way down to my stomach. It leaves a cool trail to my stomach.

Takashi opens one of his drawers and pulls out two packages from it. "You cool with instant ramen?"

"Sounds good."

"Alright. Let's head out to the kitchen then."

We enter the small kitchen.. White colored walls match the white tiles and cabinets. Against the right wall is the sink. To the left of that, is an electric stove. The wall opposite of the doorway sits the refrigerator and the microwave. It is resting on top of a steel rack, with napkins and plastic utensils beside it. A small brown table sits across the left side of the wall. Four wooden chairs are around the table with a gray trash can in the corner.

Takashi pours the hot water into each bowl. The steam rising from both bowls looks like water hitting hot coals.

"Now we wait," he puts the pot the stove.

"Thanks for dinner," I take a seat at the table.

"Well I had to pay you back for the science lesson. Plus I don't want to owe you anything. So we're even now."

That was an odd thing to say. But I guess it means something to Takashi, as he joins me at the table. He pulls out his phone from his pocket and begins to push the buttons on it. He continues to look at his phone for another three minutes before he puts it back in his pocket. His expression never changed from his usual annoyed look during the whole process.

"So, I was wondering," I pick up my fork and stir my bowl of instant ramen.

"What is it?" he looks up.

"Why are you at this school?" I swear the stuff that comes out of my mouth. I shake my head as I look down. Well any chances of becoming friends are thrown out the window now.

"The same reason everyone else goes here; to get an education."

"I mean…I'm here because of arrhythmia, and was curious what made you end up at Yamaku."

Takashi stares at me while he opens his can of soda. Not much at staring at me, but more like staring through me. His stare never leaves, even when taking a sip. He lets out an annoyed sign as he puts his can down.

"Tinnitus. Ever heard of it?" his voice matching the annoyed look on his face.

"No. Not sure that I have," feeling relieve. I guess I live another minute.

Takashi takes a deep breath, similar to Ikuno earlier. He lets the air out, "To put it simple, it's like having this ringing sound going off in your ears. It's doesn't go away."

"Huh," I cock my head to the left. I was expecting something more serious. Well, I got my answer.

We eat our dinner in silence. The bowl of noodles is nothing special. The noodles are too firm for my liking and I am not sure which flavor this is. Regardless, you can't complain about a free meal. I wash down the taste with my can of orange juice, crushing the can with my hand.

I finish up the rest of my noodles when Takashi's phone goes off. He picks up his blue phone and flips it open to read the message. Takashi glances up towards me and back to his phone. He begins to text back. This goes on for about five minutes before he closes his phone.

"I got to get going," he says, standing up from the table and heads towards the sink. "I got stuff to take care of."

"Alright. Thanks again for dinner."

"Don't mention it," Takakshi walks towards me. "Don't mention this to no one."

"Okay."

Where did this come from? Before I can process what he meant, he left the kitchen. I thought we were going forward. Guess not. I finish up my dinner, wash my bowl, and head back to my room.

I close my math book; excited that I finish all of my homework. I take a look at my watch. 10:49pm. That took longer than expected, but I can go to sleep now. I change out of my school uniform and crash on my bed. Oh bed, how I miss you. The way you hold me; I can't wait to spend another night with you.

Before I can meet the beauty that is sleep, my phone goes off. That's strange. Who would want to talk to me at this hour?

I sit up on my bed and reach my phone on my nightstand. I flip it open and read the message. It's from Emi. Wonder what she has to say.

 _Hi Hisao! Sorry to text you so late. I'm reminding you that tomorrow is the track meet. I hope you show up and cheer me on! Good night! (_ _ゝ_ _ω_ _･_ _)_

I close my phone, follow by my eyes.


	6. Runners High

**Act 2, Scene 3: Runners High**  
 _As Hisao cheers on Emi, he sees a new side of her._

I grab my breakfast before I make my way out of the cafeteria. Breakfast is usually the same: a bowl of rice, canned coffee, and a fruit. Today's fruit is an apple. I walk halfway through the cafeteria before I hear someone call out my name.

"Yo Nakai! Where are you headed off to?" the voice asks.

I turn and look for the owner of the voice. It's Miura; the girl that sits next to Ikuno and in front of Takashi. She motions her right hand for me to come over. Wonder what she wants?

"It's Miura right?" I ask.

"That is me," she laughs.

"What do you want?"

"Oh, nothing. Just wanted to say yo."

"Well yo."

"You going to the track meet today?"

"Yeah."

Miki smiles at me with a cat like grin. She stands up from the bench and I see that she is wearing the school's track team jacket. The green jacket does nothing but compliment Miura.

"Are you going to cheer for me or Emi?" her voice calls for my attention.

"Why does it matter?"

"No reason," she takes a bite of her apple. "Just thought you might want a new running partner after today."

She winks at me.

"I like the running partner I have now. Thank you though," my voice cracks a little.

She takes a few steps back while taking another bite of her apple. Her eyes move up and down, analyzing me. "It's cool. Guess you prefer girls on the shorter side," she winks again, as she heads out of the cafeteria.

"What does that supposed to mean?" I call out, only for it to be answer by the student's chatter in the cafeteria.

~~~~~~~~~~

After breakfast, I take a look at my watch; I have just over an hour before the track meet starts. Well I guess it'll be good to hang out at the garden for a while. Lately, I started to use my free time on the weekends going to the garden. It helps me clear my mind and seem like I'm not at school.

I take a seat under a tree by the pond. It's pretty quiet and cold even with the sun shining bright. In the distance, I can hear people yelling and moving equipment. My guess would be that it's for the track meet. I close my eyes for a bit, only to be greeted by a familiar voice.

"Hi Hisao," she greets me.

I open my eyes and spot Molly standing in front of me. She smiles while she waves at me.

"Morning Molly," I stretch my arms. "What are you doing here?"

"Today is the track meet. I thought I come and cheer on Miura and Suzumiya, along with the rest of the track and field club."

"Oh crap! What time is it?" A quick glance shows that its 10 minutes before the event starts. "We should get going if we want to get seats."

Molly nods in agreement. She holds out her hand to help me. I smile and reach out to grab her hand. With one swift motion, I stand up and proceed to walk towards the track. I only get a couple steps before I feel my arm being pulled.

"Sorry!" I free Molly's hand.

She stares at me with no expression. She is making me feel uneasy. It was an accident; I was didn't want to be late for the event. I wasn't trying to imply anything. Am I overthinking this?

"You're friends with Ibarazaki, right?" she asks out of the blue.

"Y-yeah," I blurt out.

"She's really good. And this one is the last track meet, so you are lucky to see her in action."

We make our way towards the track. This is the first I time spot Molly out of her school uniform and she doesn't look bad. She is wearing an open light red blouse with a white shirt underneath it. Another first is seeing her without her legs standing out. They are hidden in blue jeans.

"You look great today."

"Thank you," she smiles. "Ikuno and I went shopping last weekend and I bought these clothes." She should be wearing the clothes she bought as well."

"Do you two usually go shopping on weekends?"

"Not really. These were on sale. We usually just go into the city and walk around the shopping district or the movies if Asuka and Takashi come along."

"Must be fun."

"Of course it is," she turns to me. "Today we're going to the movies. You're coming too right?"

"What?"

"Takashi didn't tell you? Ikuno called and said that Asuka wanted to go to the movies. She said she texted Takashi to tell you last night."

"I must have forgotten."

"Well, would you want to come along?"

"Sure, I'll be glad to tag along."

Molly smiles at my answer. Before she can reply, we make it to the track field. We spot our friends sitting on the first row.

Takashi is wearing a black and white button up with blue jeans. Surprisingly, he is not wearing his weird hat. I thought he might be hiding a bald spot.

Ikuno is wearing a black long shirt with a white shirt sticking out at the bottom; she is also wearing gray shorts with black thigh high socks and some light gray boots. I also spot her green backpack next to her.

Asuka is wearing a white shirt with thin black stripes on it and light brown capris. On her right wrist she is wearing a copper bangle.

"Molls!" Asuka shouts in excitement. "Hey Hisao."

"Hi," we both greet her in unison.

"You two made it time," Ikuno chimes in. "They are about to start the first event."

Molly and I take our seat next to Ikuno. I spot Emi run to the track and take her position. Behind her is Miura, who trades glances at Emi. They both nod their heads, with a smirk appearing on both their faces.

"The first event is the girl's 400 meter dash," the speakers boom.

The runners from both schools ready up. A referee walks onto the side of the field. I can't make out what he says, but I'm pretty sure he's telling them to get ready. He holds up the gun above his head.

Before the race starts, I spot Emi's expression. Her expression is the expression I see on a daily occasion when running. She looks as though there is no one around but only her and the field. So this is what Molly meant about taking your mind off; no problems to worry about but to be in the moment.

The gun fires and the muzzle blows steam like a tea kettle. Off goes Emi. She explodes out on to the field like a rocket. The crowd goes crazy and I can't help but join in with the crowd's excitement.

"Let's go Yamaku!" Asuka cheers.

The rest of the crowd continues to cheer as the runners make the first turn. The person in front of the pack is Emi. Behind her are Miura and another runner from the other school. They go back and forth between the three from first, second and third. When they reach the second turn, Emi takes the lead and gathers some distance from the other two. Miura is in second place and tries her best to catch up, but there is some distance between the two at this point.

"And your winner is Emi Ibarazaki of Yamaku," the voice from the speakers announces.

"That was a good race," I comment.

"It was awesome!" Asuka exclaims.

Emi takes a seat, while the coach comes up and congratulates her. She looks up towards the crowd. She spots me and smiles. I wave back. Her smile fades away when she continues to survey the crowd. She gives up looking for someone in the crowd and stares down for a bit.

"Next up is the girl's 200 meter dash," the announcer announces.

Emi leaves her seat and walks onto the track field once again.

"She's going to do another race?"

"Yes," Ikuno answers. "She's also doing the relay race as well."

"How do you know that?"

"Miki told me the other day. She is competing in them as well."

I look towards the track and spot Miura getting in position. She has the expression almost similar as Emi but I think there is more to it. It's probably determination to win and beat her rival.

The gun goes off and so does the runners. Leading the pack is not a surprise to me. Following Emi is Miura, who is not that far behind. It's a neck and neck race, but the end result is the same as the last one.

The both of them trade looks with Miura having an expression that she is determine in beating my running partner. Emi nods her head with a smug look in her face.

Her expression changes as she takes a seat. Emi winces when she rubs close to her prosthetics. The coach comes up to her and she shakes her head.

"It doesn't look good," Molly comments.

"You noticed it too?" I question.

"Ibarazaki looks like she is in pain."

"How do you know?"

"Wearing prosthetics can cause discomfort or irritation if it is not put on right," she turns to me. "My guess is that it's the latter."

I feel my stomach turn a little bit. I just hope that it isn't bad.

"Our final event is the girl's relay race."

Emi and Miura walk towards the track exchanging words. Miura has a concern expression while Emi tries her best to put on a reassuring smile on. They both take their position, with Miura shaking her head.

"Go Yamaku! Show Kitayama who's the better school is!" Asuka cheers, her excitement never changing since the first race.

The gun goes off once more and the race begins. The rest of the crowds cheers on as the first set of runners leave their positons. I shift my focus to Emi. She has the same look as she did in the races before. She is in her moment; no trace of pain, only determination.

I shift my focus back to the race. It's a close race as both girls are neck and neck as they pass the batons. Kitayama pulls ahead as they near the third set of runners. Miura's leaves her position and grabs the baton. She takes off like a bullet train and catches up with Kitayama. It isn't long before she passes them and takes the lead for Yamaku.

Emi begins to take off from her position. She picks up speed and for a split second, her face winces. Miura catches up to her, as she hands off the baton to the fastest things on no legs.

"This is going to be interesting," Takashi comments.

Emi tries her best to stay in the lead, but try as she might, the other runners catch up to her. Her look of determination is gone and is replace with pain for a split second. She pushes through with one last burst of speed. Her effort is not doing well. They near the finish line in a photo finish end.

"Your winner of the girl's relay race is Kitayama Academy," the announcer says over the speakers.

"Well I'm going to use the restroom. I'll see you all at the bus stop." Takashi gets up and leaves, his voice showing indifference.

"She...lost," I mumble out.

"Well, we should start heading out if we want to catch the movie," Ikuno speaks up.

"Yeah, I'm really excited for this movie too," Asuka readjusts herself in her wheelchair.

The girls begin to leave their seat, but I remain in mine. I don't know what to make of this or how to feel. I feel someone pull my arm and I look up.

"You're coming too?" Asuka ask.

"Yeah. Sorry, I'm just a little tired from staying up late doing homework. You three go on ahead. I'll catch up with you in a few minutes."

~~~~~~~~~~

I make my way on to the field and spot Emi sitting on the bench. Her head down.

"Emi," I speak up. "It's Hisao."

She looks up, her wiping her face with a towel. "Hi Hisao! I'm glad that you showed up!"

She's upset, but she hides any hint of it in her happy behavior.

"Well yeah. I wouldn't have missed this even if I was kidnapped," I let out a cautious laugh.

She joins in with a laugh of her own. "Well I'm glad that nothing could have stopped you," her voice trails off in the end. She wipes her face again with the towel and looks back down.

"Hey Emi, they're about to start the award's ceremony. We better get going," a track club member shouts.

Emi doesn't respond right away, continuing looking down. Before her team mate repeats themselves, she gets up.

"Okay! I'll be there in a minute. Go on ahead, I'll catch up," she smiles, but I can tell that her smile is hollow.

"Alright," her team mate says, as they head off.

"Hisao, you can go," Emi looks to me. "The awards ceremony is really boring and takes forever. I'll see you some other time."

"You sure?" even though I already have plans. "I'll see you tomorrow."

As I begin to head out to the entrance, I can't help but look back, just out of curiosity. Emi is nowhere to be seen. I turn back and head towards the entrance, dragging my feet as they become heavy out of the blue.


	7. Bits and Pieces

**Act 2, Scene 4: Bits and Pieces**

"So what time does the movie start?" Takashi kneels down to tie his shoe.

"At 19:00," Asuka replies. "We have about two hours to kill."

"We can walk around the shopping district," Ikuno suggests.

"Oh that reminds me, I want to see if there are any summer dresses on sale," Asuka says.

"Could we get some food along the way?" Molly chimes in.

"I'm getting pretty hungry myself," Takashi stands up.

"We could we get some burgers,"Asuka suggest. "I haven't had one in a while."

"I don't mind," Molly nods gently.

"Me neither," Takashi agrees.

"Burgers sound good," I add.

"Sounds like a plan. Let's go," Asuka leads the way.

We walk down the crowded street and stop at a crosswalk. I take a look around. The city is the complete opposite of the Yamaku. The constant chatter of people walking by, the cars honking in traffic and the sounds of construction in the distance make the city feel like a living entity. It's a night and day difference between the two; where Yamaku feels like a quiet and isolated hermit, living on top of a mountain.

We continue down the street, passing stores along the way. The girls stop at a store entrance and slowly walk in. I follow them with Takashi following right after. We walk into toy shop. Shelves are stack with lots of various toys, stuff animals, and figurines. I don't know where most of them are from, but I do recognize a few of them from some shows I've watched as a kid.

"Hey check this out Molly," Asuka calls her over.

"What is it?" Molly walks towards Asuka.

"Look at this dog. It looks exactly like Aman."

Molly picks up the gray stuff dog with white fur on its chest. It looks almost identical to the one I gave her during the school festival. Did she name it?

She pets it and smiles back at Asuka, "You're right, it does look like him."

"You should buy it so he doesn't feel lonely."

"Maybe next time," she puts the dog down.

Takashi is standing in the corner looking at boxes. He picks up a box with a picture of a robot. It looks like one of those robot figures you build yourself. He puts it back and picks up another one. After putting back the second robot, he looks at some paint on the shelves next to them.

After some time, we leave the store and walk into another store. It's a shoe store. They are having a sale where you buy a pair and get one half off. I see a pair of shoes that I like. They are black sneakers that have two red stripes along the side of the shoe. I check the price and see that they are way out of my price range. Putting them back, I spot some familiar looking shoes I wear. They look like the pair I packed, but they are white instead of the black and white pair I have. I put the shoes back.

We leave the store shortly after and enter a clothing store. They have a lot of clothes out on display as well as some swimsuits. The girls look at some blouses. Takashi is looking at some jeans and some shorts. I look around at some t-shirts, but nothing catches my eye.

I look down at what I'm wearing. I'm the only one in my school uniform. It kind of bums me out. I wish I knew that we were going to the city, so I would at least wear some of clothes that I brought. Wearing the uniform felt like second nature to me. Between school and going down to town, I never thought much to change out of them. Maybe another time.

After leaving the store, we walk down the street for a bit before Ikuno enters another store. Asuka and Molly follow her into the store and I follow behind them. When I enter the store, I notice it is a clothing store for girls. I quickly exit the place. I spot Takashi walking towards a light pole and pulls out his phone. He flips it open and I slowly approach him.

"What do you want?" he doesn't look up from his phone.

"Nothing. I thought I hang here with you," I answer.

"Lovely," he sighs as he rolls his eyes.

"Quick question. How come you didn't tell me about the movies?"

"You're here right?"

"Yeah, but…"

"But what?"

"A heads up would have been nice."

"Why does it matter?" he looks down at his phone again.

"Well, I thought we were becoming frien-,"

"We're not friends," he cuts me off. His words hit harsh and cold like a snowball to the face.

"..."

He opens up his phone as I stand there in silence. I debate whether to stay or go back into the store. Before I can decide, the girls walk out of the store.

"I'm telling you that you would look cute in that dress," Asuka tells Molly.

"I don't know. I think it would look better on you. Black suits you more."

"Asuka is right though," Ikuno reinsures. "Plus it wouldn't fit Asuka."

"Ikuno!" Asuka tries to punch Ikuno, but she is out of reach.

Ikuno and Molly share a laugh at Asuka's dismay.

"What were you two doing?" Molly approaches us.

"Nothing. Can we go eat now?" Takashi answers.

"Sure…," she sounds a little disappointed.

"The restaurant is right there," Asuka points down the street to the giant yellow arches.

Takashi gets up from the light pole and begins to walk towards the restaurant. The rest of us quickly try to keep up to his pace.

~~~~~~~~~~

"So what is this movie about?" Ikuno places her tray on the table.

"It's about a cop trying to take down terrorists. Well hackers, but it has some crazy action from the trailer I saw. It's been over a decade since the last movie."

"So it's an action movie?"

"Mhmm," Asuka takes a bite out of her hamburger; her mouth fills up like a chipmunk. "Da bess part is tat the teater iss havin a spesial shneak peek todai beefor it comess out nesh week."

"I don't really like action movies," I say.

"Why?" Asuka swallows her food.

"It's something about them that I can't get into. It's hard to explain."

"Well what kind of movies do you like then?"

"I'm not sure. I guess science fiction movies interest me. I saw some movies on TV at the hospital at times. I read a lot of science fiction books when I was at the hospital."

"Any books about time travel?"

"There was one was about a guy that built a time machine. I couldn't keep it down."

"Oh?" her ears perk up like a dog. "I think I know a movie you might like. You kind of remind me of one of the characters in it too."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you should come by my room some time and we can watch it. It's really good. I showed Ikuno and Molly and they liked it."

I glance over at both Molly and Ikuno, and they nod their head in agreement.

"I really like the Doc character. He's my favorite. I really like him in the third one," Molly says.

"I like the second one," Ikuno answers. "It ties with the first one really well."

"There are three movies?"

"Yeah. The first two are awesome!" Asuka enthusiasm slips.

"What about the third one?"

"It's okay. I can't get into it," Asuka puts her burger down.

"I see."

"So you're going to watch them with me right?"

"Sure, why not. I'll stop by sometime this week."

"Great!" she takes another bite.

We continue to eat our food. It's great having food that's different than what the school serves. As much as I would enjoy this burger, I can't help but think about Emi. I can almost hear her giving me hell about the food I ordered. Speaking of which, I wonder how she is doing. She seemed to take losing the relay race really bad. She said she was fine, but I can't help but think she said that to make me not worry about her. Maybe I should call her and see if everything is alright.

"I'll be right back," I stand up from my seat, "got to use the restroom."

"Don't need to announce it," Takashi speaks up.

~~~~~~~~~~

" _Hi, sorry I can't answer the phone right now. But leave your name and message and I'll get back to you as qui—"_ I end the call. That's the second time it went to voicemail. I guess she is still at the awards ceremony. Maybe I should text her. Before I can do that, I hear a familiar voice.

"Hey Hisao."

"Hey Molly," I look up from my phone.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh. I was just checking if I had any messages. What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to freshen up before we leave," she walks towards me. "You alright?"

"Yeah. I was thinking about the city."

"What about the city? You're not a city person are you?"

I shake my head, "No. I grew up in the city. It's just that it feels kind of weird."

"What do you mean?"

"I guess being in the hospital all this time has made me miss it. Like an old man visiting his old childhood home," I shrug my shoulders. "It feels nostalgic even though I been to this city."

"I think I understand. I feel the same when I'm at school," she leans against the wall. "I feel more at peace there than the city. I kind of wish I could stay there, so I could be closer to my friends."

"Even Takashi?"

"Yes, even Takashi. You don't like him?"

"I can't figure him out. He seems like a jerk. I try to be nice to him, but he seems to not want to be associated with me."

"Takashi is always like that. He might not look like it, but he's a nice person behind his attitude."

"He did acted kind of nice yesterday?"

"How so?" Molly cocks her head.

"He waited outside my room to ask me to help him out with some class work. Afterwards he invited me for dinner. But he went back to his old self when he left. And earlier he said we're not friends."

"Really?" she lets out a small laugh. "Just like back then."

"Just like what?"

"I was just thinking when I first met Takashi."

"How did you two meet?"

"I'll tell you another time. We should head back."

"Okay," I nod.

We slowly make our way back to the table. Ikuno and Asuka are chatting, while Takashi sits across from them looking out the window.

"What time does the movie start?" Molly asks.

"In 45 minutes. We have some time to kill," Asuka says.

"Could we stop by the music store real quick?" Ikuno stands up. "I want to see if there are any new CDs out."

"Sounds good. Let's go," Asuka rolls off.

~~~~~~~~~~

"They're still making music?" Ikuno picks up the CD. "I thought they were still taking a break."

Ikuno turns the CD around to read the back. She seems entranced holding the CD. Takashi is pushing Asuka around the somewhat crowded. Molly is looking at some CDs next to Ikuno. More like skimming through them; only stopping when she sees an interesting cover.

I walk around the store for a while before going out to get some fresh air. A breeze passes by and it feels great. It's crazy to think summer is around the corner. I missed spring while I was in the hospital. Feels like I missed more than that. Guess lost would be a better word. After another breeze passes, I hear Molly talking and turn towards her. She's on the phone.

"I told you yesterday that I was going to the movies with my friends," she leans against the store window.

"…"

"No. Can't you go on your own?"

"…"

"I don't see why I have to come along."

She continues to have the conversation, as I try my best to ignore it. At times, I overhear hear but it's back and forth bickering. The bickering slowly becomes an argument. Molly calm voice gradually grows to an annoyed tone the longer it goes on. Eventually she snaps.

"Fine! I'll be there in as soon I can!" she closes here phone.

Molly slides down against the window. Her head hangs down as she puts her phone away. She closes her eyes and takes slow deep breaths. I don't know if I should approach or let her be. After minutes pass by, she slowly gets up and walks towards the entrance. She spots me staring at her and is caught off guard.

"…Hi, I didn't know you were here," her voice sounds a little shaken up.

"I went outside to get some fresh air."

"Oh," she tries her best to put on a weak smile.

"Who were you talking to?"

"…No one. Hisao, this is sudden, but I have to leave."

"Why?"

"I can't tell you. Can you tell the others that I had to go?"

"Sure…" she's acting a little strange.

Molly leaves without hesitation.

"Bye," I say as she turns the corner.

I walk back inside the music store, and see Takashi, Asuka, and Ikuno at the register. There's a small stack of CDs on the counter.

"And here is your change. Thank you for shopping here. Come back soon," the cashier hands Ikuno her change.

"Thank, I will," Ikuno puts her CDs into her backpack.

"Hisao, there you are. Where's Molly?" Asuka asks.

"She said she had to go."

"Did she say why?"

I shake my head.

"We'll see her tomorrow," Ikuno reassures everyone.

"Yeah," Asuka nods. "We should go. The movie is going to start soon."

We all nod in agreement and leave the store. Ikuno and Asuka lead the way, while Takashi and I follow behind. The girls are chatting about the stores we visited earlier. We turn a corner and stop at a crosswalk. I turn to Takashi and he looks lost in thought. His expression is more stern than usual. Wonder what is on his mind. Asuka and Ikuno stop talking as well and look down. I guess all of us are thinking the same thing but none of us wants to bring it up. After what feels like hours, the light finally changes.

We continue to walk down a couple more blocks I silence until we reach the movie theater. The theater has various posters of movies that are out and some that are coming soon outside. There is quite a line outside. In the line are parents with their kids running around, young couples holding hands, and some businessmen patiently standing in line. We stand at the end of the line.

"This line is rather long," Ikuno breaks the silence.

"Yeah it is," Asuka answers. "I hope we don't have to wait long. I still want to get popcorn and some candy before it starts."

"We just ate," Takashi speaks up.

"So? You can't go to the movies and not get popcorn and candy. If you want, I share some with you if you're nice. You too Ikuno and Hisao."

"I'll pass," Ikuno declines.

"Thanks, but I'm still full," I reply.

"More for me. Hey, the line is moving," Asuka rolls forward.

~~~~~~~~~~

We manage to find some seats in the crowded theater. Since the theater is pretty pack, we had to split up. Somehow Asuka and Takashi are seating together in the wheelchair access seats, while Ikuno and I sit a few rows in front of them. We're both in the middle of the row. Since we are closer to the screen, we have to tilt our head up just a bit.

"This is going to be annoying later," Ikuno stretches her neck to the side.

"No joke. I think I heard your neck crack just now," I joke.

"It's nice that you came along with us."

"Same. It refreshing to get away from school."

"Tell me about it. I wish I went to a school that was in the city. I hate being secluded at the school."

"Really?"

"That place feels so isolated. It's like we're cut off from the world."

"I never saw it like that. It feels like any other school, well just more medical staff around."

"I wish I could adjust to the school like everyone else."

"What do you mean?"

Before I can get an answer, the movie theater lights fade as the screen lights up. Everyone in the theater quiets down, except for the sound of people eating popcorn.


	8. These Girls

Act 2 Scene 5: These Girls

 _In which Hisao has trouble with the girls around him._

I place my books in my schoolbag as the school comes to an end. Most of the other students have already left as soon as the bell rang. Few of them are hanging around chatting with one another; Misha and Shizune being among those students. They sign back and forth while making subtle glances at me. If I had to make a guess, they are probably going to ask me to help them out with something. I wonder how long are they are going to take before they ask me? Either wat, I am really not in the mood to talk to them today.

Lately, my morning runs have been rather lonely. Emi hasn't shown up to run the past few days. I texted her Tuesday if everything was alright, but she didn't text me until last night to say she was. It wasn't very convincing since it took her a day to respond. She might have been busy with school work. Regardless, my motivation to turn has been waning away with each passing day. Today I barely ran a lap before calling it quits.

"Hey Hisao," Molly pulls me out of my thoughts with her calm voice.

"What's up Molly? Going home early today again?"

"Yes," she nods. "I was wondering if you would like to accompany me to the bus stop. Ikuno said she had to catch up on some school work," she picks up her bag.

"Um yeah. Let me just put my stuff away."

"I'll wait for you outside," a smile grows on her face.

I put the rest of my supplies in my bag and begin to leave the classroom, until I hear a familiar ear piercing voice.

"Not so fast Hicchan~! Wahaha~!" Misha says in her "indoor" voice. "We need a word with you~!"

"What do you two want?" I mumble as I turn to face the duo.

Misha begins to sigh to Shizune and she signs back. They continue to trade back and forth some words before Misha speaks up again.

"As you know, the Student Council handles a lot of responsibilities. One of these tasks is delivering mail to students. We recently got a letter for you, Hicchan~!"

"A letter for me?"

"Yes, it arrived yesterday."

"Do you have it?"

"Well the thing is…"

And here's the catch.

"…we need some help doing some paperwork. We were wondering if you could help us out."

"No. Last time I tried to help you two, I was stuck doing all the work."

"Well Hicchan was on a roll and we didn't want to interrupt your flow! Wahaha~!" she makes a big grin.

"I still don't see why I have to help you two in exchange for my letter. It seems like you two are holding my letter as ransom. Gives the Student Council a shady reputation that everyone seems to talk about," I stand my ground. Hopefully it's enough to get out of it.

"..."

The two girls quickly sign to one another before facing me again. Shizune's expression hasn't change throughout the whole time. Misha places her hands together in front of her and looks down. She slowly looks up with sad eyes that remind me of Emi doing her puppy dog eyes. Unfortunately for Misha, she doesn't have the same guilt effect I get from Emi. I think it's because Shizune is staring at me with an analytic gaze.

"Please Hicchan? We really need the extra hand. It's just that our hands hurt from doing all the paperwork," she holds her hands closer to her to emphasize.

"Fine, see you tomorrow," I give in, "but this is the last time I'm helping you two out."

Misha quickly signs to Shizune; her expression changes to smile, but follow by a furry of hand movements.

"Okay Hicchan~! See you tomorrow! Wahaha!" Misha ends our conversation with her trademark laugh.

I wave them goodbye as I head towards the door. I spot Molly leaning against the wall holding her bag in front of her. She doesn't spot me at first as I approach her. A few steps closer and she notice that I'm right in front of her.

"Hey there," she pushes herself off the wall.

"Sorry for the wait. I had a little talk with Shizune and Misha."

"What did they want?"

"They said they had a letter for me."

"Ooo, that's cool. Anyone you know?"

"They didn't say," we begin walking towards the stairs. "I don't really know anyone who would want to write me a letter."

"Maybe it's from one of the nurses," Molly chuckles lightly.

"Well there was this one nurse," I recall my hospital stay. "She was always nice to me. She would bring me books she'd recommend. Inside the books, she would leave me notes."

"So you think she might be the one that sent the letter?"

"I would be a surprised if she did, but doubt it."

We continue walking down the hallway towards the stairs. The empty hallway is both eerie and calming, in sense that ten minutes ago, it was flowing with life. As we walk in silence, I begin to wonder who would write me a letter. The more I think about, the more curious I become. There weren't a lot of people who I knew in my old school. I had a few friends but they most likely call me than write a letter. I ponder on that thought as we climb down the stairs.

We exit the main building and make our way towards the school gates. It feels nice to get some fresh air after spending hours in the cramp classroom. The sun is shining but the trees make good cover from the bright rays. It feels like one of those days where you want to find a good patch of grass and take a nap. It's the type of day where you want to be lazy and take a nap under a tree.

"Nice day isn't it?" I comment.

"Yes," she nods. "I'm kind of craving some shaved ice."

"It's been a long time since I had that. I wonder if there they sell some in town. I might have to take a trip down there to find out."

"I know a shop in the city where they put fruit in it. It's the best," her mouth waters at the thought. "Maybe I can take you there someday."

"They add fruit? That does sound pretty tasty. I look forward to it."

We pass through the school gates and make our way towards the bus stop. There are a few students waiting there. They look to be second and first year. We pass by them and head towards the wall surrounding the school. The both of us lean against a wall as we wait for the bus.

"How long does the bus take to get here?" I ask.

"Umm one comes in twenty minutes usually," she answers while putting down her schoolbag.

"That's not that bad of a wait."

She nods her head, "But today, my brother wanted to pick me up."

"Does he often pick you up?"

"Not really."

"What about your parents?"

"It's just me and my brother. I moved in with him when I started attending here last year," Molly's tone lowers slightly.

The bus pulls up to the bus stop and the students board it. The bus driver looks at us; his expression asking if we are going to board as well. Molly politely shakes her head and the bus driver closes the door. The bus revs up its engine and slowly drives around the mountain.

Ten minutes pass in silence. Molly slowly pulls out a small pamphlet. It's kind of hard to make out what it is at the angle I'm looking at, but I can make out a picture of a fish and a penguin.

"What's that?"

"Huh? Oh! It's a brochure for an aquarium," she outs down the pamphlet. "They are remodeling the old aquarium and adding a lot of stuff to it."

"Oh really? What are they adding?" I ask.

"I'm really excited about the penguin exhibit that they are going to have," Molly voices raises in excitement. "The best part is that you could be able to feed them. I really want to do that."

"Can I take a look at the pamphlet?" I reach my hand out.

Molly nods and proceeds to hand over the brochure. I open it up and read it over. The first page has a picture of a penguin with wearing red shorts and a straw hat. It's also holding some balloons. It's cute; underneath it is reads "Come visit our new penguin exhibit!" The second page has picture of jellyfishes swimming in a tank. On the next page they have a picture of a Ferris wheel, with the same penguin riding it. It advertises that the Ferris wheel is going to be 90 meters tall.

"They are going to have a Ferris wheel that has a view of the ocean," I comment. "I would want to check that out just for the view alone."

"This place is going to be amazing. I really want to go there opening day hopefully."

"When do they open?"

"They open in about five weeks I think."

"That's the end of July," I hand back the pamphlet to Molly.

She takes the brochure and flips through it again before she stuffs it back into her bag. It seems not much time has pass since the bus left. A quick look at my watch and only five minutes has passed. I look at Molly, who seems to be thinking about something. It's hard to make ends on what she is thinking. Her face seems calm but at the same time, concern about something. Like something is off.

I pull out my phone; for no reason in particular. I guess because to do something even though I don't know what to do and want to look like I'm doing something. Guess I can check it if I got a message from Emi. Though I doubt she is going to text but what the hell. I look through my messages and nothing. I close my phone and shove it back into my pocket.

I hear ring go off and turn my attention towards Molly, who is opening her schoolbag. She fishes around in it until she pulls out her phone. It's a red flip phone with a charm of a dog dangling at the end. Molly opens up her phone. She stares at her phone, which is follow by a sigh.

"Something the matter?"

"It was my brother. He said something came up and he can't pick me up," she closes her phone.

"Sorry about that. I'll stay with you until the next bus comes," I try to cheer her up.

"You don't have to. The next bus usually takes a long time."

"I don't mind," I put on a reassuring grin.

Molly looks up to me and smiles back, "Thank you Hisao."

"Don't mention it."

"Want to get a drink? I'm getting kind of thirsty."

"Here you go Hisao," she hands me the drink.

"Thank you," I take the can.

"Thanks for waiting with me. I know it isn't exciting."

"It's fine. I enjoy spending time with you."

"Really?" her eyes widen.

"Yeah. When I'm with you, I feel more at ease. Between Misha and Shizune breathing down my neck during class and my crazy neighbor rambling about I don't know anymore, this feels like a nice change of pace. Like there's nothing to worry about."

"I really like spending time with you too," Molly takes a seat next to me.

Molly opens her can tea and takes a sip. She lets out a refreshing gasp. I follow her lead and open my drink. A quick swig of the milk tea and the flavor fills my taste buds with awesomeness deliciousness. A couple seconds later, I feel something on my right shoulder. It's Molly. She's resting her head on me.

"How's Ibarazaki?" she asks out of the blue.

"I…I don't know," I fidget the can in my hand. Some of the milk tea spills out of it. "I haven't seen her since Sunday. I've been calling her but it goes straight to voicemail. I've tried texting her but she took forever to reply. It's been bothering me because she's always been so cheerful. To see her act this way," I hang my head, "it makes me feel like I'm a shitty friend."

"Hmm. Have you tried looking to her?"

"I tried looking for her after school and during lunch, but no luck finding her."

"Have you tried her room?" Molly takes another sip.

"No. I don't know where her room is."

"Have you tried asking anyone?"

"The thing is. I don't know who to ask. Only person I know would be Rin, but I think I would get a better answer from a wall than her."

"What about Miura? I bet she would know."

Miura? She is in the track team as well. I guess it's worth a shot. Though thinking about her, I remember our last encounter before the track meet. I'm still kind of confused about what she said about me preferring girls on the smaller side. Something about her that rubbed me the wrong way.

"I guess it's worth a shot," I answer awkwardly.

"It's settled then. Tomorrow we visit Ibarazaki to cheer her up," Molly lifts her head off my shoulder. She stands up and tosses her drink away. "We should head to the bus stop. It should be coming soon."

I nod my head and finish off my drink.

The classroom slowly fills up with my classmate. Unfortunately, Miura isn't one of them; though I'm not really sure when she shows up to class. I skipped my morning run today, since the past few days I haven't been in the mood. Maybe once Emi comes back, everything would go back to normal. I take a look at my watch to check the time. Only five minutes until class starts.

"Morning Hicchan~!" Misha greets me.

"Morning Misha," my greeting doesn't sound as ecstatic as hers. "Morning Shizune."

The two girls sign back and forth each other with smiles on their faces. They continue to "talk" to each other as I turn my attention to the door. No sign of Miura or Molly.

"Hey Hicchan," Misha waves to catch my attention again.

"What is it?"

"Shicchan and I are really happy that you are going to help us out today. We thought it would be nice that we want to treat you for lunch~!"

"Wait. What?" I forgot about that.

Misha and Shizune sign back, before Misha turns back to me, "Hicchan didn't forget that he was helping us, did he?"

"Of course I didn't. It's just that-," I try my best to remember yesterday's interaction.

"Just that…" Misha repeats my words.

"Just that…I kind of made other plans afterschool."

Shizune taps Misha on her left shoulder and Misha turns to her. The two of them trade words through their hands in rapid motion. Shizune face is all I need to know what they are talking about. One quick glance at me and I feel her aura resonating from her. Misha turns back to me with her best attempt at copying Shizune's angry. But it's more pleasant to the eyes than the blue haired demon right behind her.

"A promise is a promise Hicchan!" Misha crosses her arms. "You said you would help us yesterday and now you won't. What is so important that you had to break your promise?"

"It's uh uh-" I get cut off by the school bell.

"We'll continue this later Hicchan~!" Misha takes her seat.

Shizune takes a quick glance over at me and I face forward to avoid her glare. But it seems futile as I can feel her eyes dill a hole into the side of my head. Maybe I should have just kept my mouth shut. Today is going to be a rough one.

The lunch bell rings after what felt like thirty hours since the morning bell rang. My thoughts between the bells were mostly what kind of mess I gotten myself with Shizune and Misha. I forgot that I agreed to help because I was focused on seeing if Emi is doing okay. Maybe if I can explain to them the situation, they would be okay with it.

"Hey Hisao," Molly taps my desk. "I have some good news."

"Hey Molly," I snap out of my thoughts. "What's the good news?"

"I ran into Miura before class."

"Really? What happened?"

"I asked her if she knew where Ibarazaki's dorm was. She said she knew."

"That's great!"

She nods her head, "So after school, we can go visit her."

"Um about th-"

"Sorry Kapur, but Hicchan promised he would help us after school," Misha butts in. "Isn't that right?"

"…!"

"…?"  
"Is that true, Hisao?"

"Well the thing is, I kind of forgot that I agreed to help them."

"Not only is he helping us out, but he agreed to join us for lunch today as well~! Wahaha~!" Misha grabs my right arm.

"I didn't agree to that!" Well I didn't have time to decide on it.

"Come on Hicchan~! Are you saying no to a free meal with two cute girls?"

"It's alright Hisao, go with them," Molly words try to reassure me but she sounds confuse on what is happening. "We can go after you're done helping them."

"Yeah," I try to see the silver lining in this situation.

"Wahaha~! Come on Hicchan~! We are wasting time~!"

Shuzune grabs my left arm; ensuring I have way to escape. I feel like a prisoner being drag to their death sentence. There's not much for me to do but put away my pride. I turn back to the classroom one last time as we reach the door. I spot Takashi with a smug look on his face. His expression is just adding salt to the wound.


	9. Centipede

Act 2 Scene 6: Centipede

Hands down. Eyes shut. I need to take a break from this.

"Come on Hicchan~! You can't stop now!" Misha places down more paperwork in front of me.

"We've been doing this for over an hour now. My hand is starting to cramp on me."

"We're on the final stretch Hicchan. You got this~!"

I doubt we are done doing this. We went to the Shanghai for lunch and stayed there way past lunch. They reassured me that it was okay that we skip the rest of our classes, saying it's one of the perks of being in the Student Council. But I doubt it is a perk and more of abuse of power. It was nice of them to treat me to lunch and not just the same old food from the cafeteria; even though I was starting to get used to it.

"How much is left?" I ask.

"Just a little bit left," Misha replies.

"You said that last time."

"I don't remember saying that, Hicchan~," Misha lies. "You must have imagined it. Wahaha~!"

I pick up where I left off and continue to fill out the paperwork in front of me. My hand begins to sting after writing for about twenty seconds. The other two continue to work as if they had just started until there is a knock on the door. The knock itself, wasn't that loud, but it was just loud enough to catch our attentions to stop our work. Misha slowly raises her head and looks around, while Shizune continues to work. Shizune eventually stops to look up; only because Misha caught her attention.

"Were you two expecting someone?" I decide to ask them.

"Just continue filling out those forms while we answer the door," Misha responds as she signs to Shizune.

Misha turns to Shizune; her face showing confusion and some signs of fatigue from all the work. I guess all this work has been taking a toll on her as well. She neatly places down her pen and signs back to Misha. Afterwards, they stand up and heads towards the door.

When they approach the door, there's another knock. The sound of the knock is quickly follow by Misha opening the door. Shizune peeks over her shoulder before she makes room for her. From where I am sitting, I can't make out who is at the door, nor hear the visitor.

"May we help you?" Misha questions the visitor, while signing to Shizune.

"…"

"We are really busy right now, so makes this quick."

"…"

"We are not looking for new members to join the Student Council at the moment. Please try another time," Misha closes the door.

Misha makes her way back to her seat with Shizune behind her. They both take their seat and continue to work as if nothing happened. A minute or two later there is another knock on the door; louder than the knocks before. The person behind the door starts to turn the knob. Misha turns to face the door. Shizune continues to work for obvious reasons.

"Molly?" I jerk my head back a bit. Why is she here?

Molly peeps her head through the opening; follow by the rest of her. She closes the door behind and turns to us. Her expression worried but she smiles when she spots me.

"Sorry for intruding, I was looking for Hisao," she bows.

Shizune looks up and is shocked to see Molly, then she grabs Misha by the arm and signs. I look back to Molly, who is standing by the doorway. She hasn't moved from her spot since she entered.

"Kapur, what are you doing here?" Misha speaks for Shizune. "We said we are not looking for new members."

"I said I was looking for Hisao. Last time I saw him, you took him for lunch and neither of you came back."

"Cause we are doing important Student Council work and Hicchan agreed to help us."

"What's wrong with me helping out?" Molly questions Misha. "You need the help, right? It's why you asked Hisao?"

"…" Misha turns to Shizune.

Molly stands her ground against the Student Council. She even made Misha speechless; I've only seen Shizune ever made her. Then again, Shizune can be very intimidating without saying a word. Wonder why she is acting like this?

"If you are so persistent in helping us, then by all means take a seat," Misha says somewhat in a bitter tone. Bet that was more Shizune than Misha talking there.

Molly takes a seat next to me. She smiles at me quickly before Shizune drops a small stack of papers in front of her. She then takes her seat and continues working. She doesn't bother to look up afterwards.

"I think you may have made her upset," I quietly whisper at Molly.

"I only wanted to help. She can't be mad at that."

"I think she is."

"What are we doing by the way?" Molly searches for a pen in her bag.

"It's pretty simple, just a lot of work," I hand Molly my pen. She grabs it and returns the gesture with a small smile. "Just t filling out some forms for what I think, is from the festival."

"You sure that's all of it?" I ask Misha one more time.

"Yes Hicchan," Misha nods her head. "I'm surprised we actually finished today. Wahaha~!"

"Okay, we'll be on our way then," Molly says. "Sorry about earlier."

"It's fine, Kapur. I didn't mind the extra hand. Shicchan however…," Misha quickly glances over her to make sure Shizune isn't behind her. "See you two tomorrow~!"

"Bye" I wave to both the Student Council.

"Bye Mikado. Hakamachi."

The two of us begin to make our way to the door. I reach for the doorknob before I hear Misha speak up.

"Hicchan~! One more thing!"

"What is it now?" I turn to her. Molly turns around as well.

"Here's the letter we promised."

"Oh, thank you," I grab the letter from Misha. "I forgot about why I was in this predicament in the first place." I bow to both girls before reaching the doorknob once again.

I open the door and let Molly go through first. She smiles faintly to me as she enters the hallway. I close the door and we make our way down the hallway.

"Hey Molly," I speak up.

"Yes?"

"You didn't have to come to the Student Council room. Or decided to help out."

Molly looks down. She twirls her right braid. "I thought since you were helping the Student Council, I thought I should help out as well."

"…thanks. If you didn't show up, I might have been stuck there for the rest of the day," I thank Molly.

"Good thing they didn't kick me out then."

"Yeah. I've never seen Misha so quiet," I laugh, but I am glad that she came.

"You did seem to enjoy working with them," Molly looks up at me, "I might tell Mikado that you're interested in joining them."

"Oh, please don't do that. I already sit next to them. I feel that's torture enough."

We both laugh as we make our way towards the staircase. A few steps down and I notice Molly is taking her time with the stairs. She has her left hand on the guard rail and is taking her time making her way down. I forget she told me that she usually has issues with stairs. Or that is what she told me last time. But this time around she is taking way more time than usual.

"You okay there?"

"Ye-Yes," she blurts out. "I'm just a little sore. I tripped yesterday at home and landed wrong. It's nothing."

She slowly makes her way to the step I am on. I begin to walk down a few steps and stop to wait for her. I repeat the process one more time before I see Molly's face grimaces in pain.

"You sure you are okay?" I'm starting to worry if she really is hurt.

"It's fine Hisao," she tries to stand up straight while taking a step. Her face tells me different.

I grab Molly's hand and she looks up to me; surprise by me taking her hand.

"Hisao!?"

"Come on, Molly. I think it'll be faster this way."

I slowly take a step down and Molly takes a step down. We down this until we reach the second floor. Molly then takes the first down the second flight of stairs while still holding my had. It's probably awkward seeing two students hold hands while slowly walking down the stairs. We probably look like an elderly couple. Thinking about that, I can't help but smile. We make it down to the first floor and I let go of her hand. The way she was holding on, felt like she didn't want to let go of my hand. No; I must be imagining it. Either way, we make our way out of the building.

"Are you sure this is the room?" I turn to Molly on my left.

"Umm, Miura said that Ibarazaki's room was this one."

"Alright," I clench my fist and hover it over Emi's door.

I continue to hover my fist; is she even here? What if she's not be here at all? What if this is someone else's room and Miura was playing a cruel joke on me? No. She has no reason to do a thing like that. Well none that have made me think so. Maybe I am overthinking this. Or maybe I'm just scared to see Emi.

"Hisao?" Molly puts her hand on my shoulder. "Whenever you are ready."

"What if she is not here?"

"Only one way to find out."

"You're right…"

I knock at the door, "Emi. It's me, Hisao."

"…"

Nothing. Maybe she isn't here after all. Maybe I didn't knock hard enough. It was a loud knock. I should knock again to be sure. As I reach up and try to knock again, I hear the doorknob turn and soon after the wooden door opens. On the other side, I see my running partner in her running outfit with her hair down.

"Hi Hisao," Emi greets me while rubbing her eyes. "You woke me up."

"Ahh! Sorry!" I bow my head.

"It's okay, Hisao. I see you went and replaced me," she turns to Molly. "And you are?"

"Molly Kapur," Molly answers.

She smiles at Molly. "Nice to meet you! I'm Emi Ibarazaki."

"…Nice to meet you Ibarazaki," Molly hesitates to respond.

"You can call me Emi, Kapur."

"And you can call me Molly, Ibarazaki."

"…"

The two girls trade expressions; Emi's cheerful warm smile contrasting with Molly's uneasy smile and shudder, as if she felt a cold breeze going down her back. Both their expression change to a more neutral one. Molly turns to me and slowly backs away. Emi then turns to me and gets closer.

"So do you want to come in?"

"Is that alright?" I ask.

"Of course! You're not the only boy in the dorms."

"What?"

"You look cute when you are confused, Hisao," Emi giggles as she reaches for my arm. "Come in. You too if you want."

Emi pulls my arm and the rest of me towards her room. I am amazed by the strength of this tiny girl. Molly follows us into Emi's room. Her expression neutral, but her body language is saying something else. Like she is more cautious. Either way, we all enter her room.

Her room looks almost the same as my room except her bed is under a window, with stuffed animals laying on top as if they were sleeping with her. Along with her bed buddies, there is a blanket folded by the foot of the bed. Next to the bed is her nightstand with nothing there besides her alarm clock. On the opposite side of the room is her drawers with a big stuff rabbit holding a carrot.

"Cute rabbit," Molly takes a few steps towards the stuff animal.

"Thanks. I won it at the school fair."

"Hisao won a stuffed dog at the fair as well," Molly says as she turns back to us.

"Good one Hisao. Maybe we can have our stuff animals have a playdate some time?"

"Umm, I don't have the dog anymore, so I have to pass on that offer."

"What happened to it? Did you throw it away?"

"He gave it to me," Molly answers almost immediately.

"Oh," Emi responds indifferently, as she takes a seat on her bed. "So, what brings you here Hisao?"

"Well I haven't seen you around for our morning runs or school for that matter," I answer. "I was getting kind of worried about you."

"I was feeling under the weather."

"Why didn't you say that when I texted you the other day?"

"I thought I was feeling better but the cold crept on me again."

"Well Hisao has been worrying about you," Molly speaks up.

"Really?" Emi's voice cracks a little as her cheeks turn a light shade of red.

"Yeah, you're my friend. What friends do right?"

"Yes, friends," she pauses," I'm glad that you came Hisao."

"Don't mention it. Thanks to Molly, we were able find you."

Emi turns to Molly—whose leaning against her nightstand—and the two make eye contact once again. Both girls don't say anything to each other. Molly continues to stare at Emi without changing her expression. It reminds me a little bit like Shizune's analytical stare. Seeing her make that expression makes Emi break eye contact from her.

"So now that you found me," Emi turns to me, "want to go do something?"

"Umm," I hesitate. "I thought I'll stick around for a bit. I don't really want to bother you."

"Oh, I mean, I really appreciate you visiting. You too, Kapur."

"Don't mention it," Molly gets up from the nightstand.

"Just that I've been stuck in my room for a few days now. I need to stretch my legs with a little walk."

"I guess you do have a point there," I think over it.

Emi springs up from her bed and heads over towards the door. I guess she is feeling better by how fast she got up. Molly walks towards me.

"I think I'm going to leave," Molly whispers.

"Wait, why?"

"I don't know. I think it would be better if you and Ibara-Emi catch up."

"But I want you stay. You helped me a lot. And I can't thank you enough for it," I tell Molly. "Please stay. I need you."

"What are you two whispering about?" Emi asks while leaning against her door. "Better not be about me."

"We're not. Molly was just asking me the problems we had to do for homework."

"Well you can talk and walk, so let's go."

"On our way," Molly walks towards the door. "Come on Hisao. I'll tell you the problems later."

All three of us leave Emi's room and back into the hallway. We follow Emi, who walks ahead of us in a brisk pace. She slowly slows down when she notices that she left us behind. She wedges between Molly and me. It's weird she did that since there was enough space on my left side for her to fit.

"So Hisao," Emi speaks up, "how did you two met?"

"Molly is in the same class. She sits in front of me."

"Is that so?" she turns to Molly.

"Yes," Molly confirms. "Well one day we were doing group work. I asked him if he wanted to work together since we both didn't have a partner."

"Did he tell you how we met?"

"I don't thin—"

"I ran into him one day during lunch," Emi cuts off Molly. "I was running a few laps to help prepare for the track meet. But I also forgot that I had to collect papers for class."

"…"

"So, I'm running back to my class and around the corner, I crashed into Hisao."

"I think I still have the bruise from that," I rub my right hand over my chest.

"Hahaha," Molly lets out a weak laugh. It sounded more nervous than anything.

"Oh, now you are saying that to make me feel bad," Emi pouts.

"You got me," although telling her that she might have send me back to hospital would upset her. I don't want that to happen.

"And so, I thought that would be the last time I talked to Hisao until…,"

"Until…?" Molly repeats Emi's last word.

"Why not you tell her the rest?" Emi turns to me.

"Okay," I hesitate. "Um, the nurse comes up to me after school. He said he wanted me to try running to see if it, um, would help with my, um, heart. I said I'll give it a shot, so the next day, I, um, go to the track field and see Emi."

"Ever since then, we've been running partners," Emi turns to Molly. "Maybe you should join us Kapur. We can have a race too."

"Sorry but I think I have to decline the offer," Molly slows down a bit.

We reach the stairs and proceed to head down. Emi is the first to head down the stairs at a fast pace. I follow afterwards then Molly rounds us up. When we reach the ground floor, I spot Asuka down the hallway. She is making her way towards us with a big bowl on her lap. She spots us and waves at us.

"Hey Hisao," she continues rolling over towards us. "Molls!" I didn't know you were still here."

"I'm still here. Just with Hisao visiting Ibarazaki."

"What are you doing with that bowl of popcorn?" I ask.

"Well I finished my homework early, so I am rewarding myself with a movie and popcorn."

"Isn't that a lot of popcorn?"

"No. There's no such thing as too much popcorn. Well maybe that one time. But that was because Takashi said I couldn't eat a large bag of popcorn by myself."

"He didn't say that," Molly speaks up. "He said you shouldn't eat that, but you told him he was saying that to steal your popcorn."

"I don't remember him saying that, so it didn't happen."

"Ahem," Emi clears her throat with a pair of loud coughs.

"Oh, Sorry. Emi, this is our friend Asuka Kasugano," Molly introduces Emi to out movie addict friend.

"Hi Kasugano, I'm Emi Ibarazaki."

"I know who you are. You were really awesome at the track meet Emi, er, Ibarazaki."

"Thank you Kasugano. Call me Emi. What movie were you going to watch?" she smiles.

"I was planning on seeing Fight Club. It's been forever since I saw. It was due for a rewatch."

"Fight Club? What is it about?"

"It's about two guys who start a fight club," Asuka reply while making a fist. "Well there's more to it, but it gets pretty crazy without spoiling it."

"How crazy?" Emi looks intrigued.

"Like really crazy. Like this one scene where they are making soa-" Asuka cuts herself off. Anyways, do you want to watch it?"

"I kind of want to now. I haven't seen a movie in months. Is it good?"

"Of course! It's in my top ten movies list with a twist!"

"There's a twist?" I speak up.

"Oops. I shouldn't have said that. Well do you still want to see it?"

"I do. Do you?" Emi turns to me. She smiles at me enthusiastically. It makes it hard to not say no with a cute face like hers.

"I think I can stay for a while before I have to go. I feel kind of tired."

"Well if you fall asleep watching the movie, I will make sure you pay for that tomorrow on the track."

"That seems kind of cruel."

"Only if you fall asleep it will be," Emi leans in closer to me. "If you do fall asleep, you can use me as a pillow," she whispers.

"Molls are you in?"

"Yes," she nods before looking down. "I felt bad leaving you on Sunday without saying goodbye."

"Yay! Let's go before the popcorn goes cold."

" _Who did this to you?"_

" _I did, I think. But, I'm okay…I'm fine…"_

"…"

" _I'm sorry…you met me at a very strange time in my life."_

The credits begin to roll and that brings the end of the movie. Asuka begins to clap. Afterwards, she turns off the DVD player and TV. Molly gets up from the foot of Asuka's bed and stretches. I think I heard a crack in her back. Emi is asleep on my shoulder. She passed out towards the final act of the movie. I wanted to push her off so she could lay down, but every time I tried to, she refused to move.

"Um, Emi," I slowly nudge to wake her up. "The movie ended."

"Hmm?" she slowly opens her eyes.

"That movie was a better a second time."

"It was a little violent for me Asuka," Molly takes a seat on the bed again. "I had to look away at some parts."

"Well it's called Fight Club for a reason. I should have told you how violent it is Molls. Sorry."

"I liked it," I throw my opinion in. "The twist was neat. And I also like the whole conflict between the main characters."

"Yup! And watching it a second time, you noticed little details revealing subtle things."

"It ended?" Emi sits up from my shoulder. "It's getting late. I should get going."

"Same."

"Me too."

I get up from the bed and the two girls do as well. I stretch my arms and twist my back. When I turn to my left, I spot a DVD box with an interesting cover. It has a picture of a high school girl with blonde hair and dark skin. Funny enough, I see the normal things about her before spotting that she has a shark fin sticking out of her back and octopus legs as for, well, legs. I would ask Askua what the hell this is about, but I'm not sure if I'd like the answer. Well not at this moment.

"Thank you for inviting us to watch the movie Kasugano," Emi makes her way to the door.

"Your welcome and thanks for coming over. Someone was supposed to come over and watched with me but they bailed."

"Well I guess they missed out."

"Thanks again Asuka. See you tomorrow," I wave at her.

"Hisao, can you walk me back to my room please," Emi asks me.

"Uh, sure."

"I'll wait here with Asuka. Go on Hisao," Molly says.

Emi opens the door and waves to Asuka before leaving through. I begin to make my way to the door. Emi is waiting for me and I close the door behind me.

"Oh, Kapur is not coming along?"

"Well she said she'll wait here," I mention.

"Oh, good," she tries to say under her breath.

We make our way to the stairs and pass by a girl on her way down. At the top of the stairs Emi turns to me.

"Thanks for coming by," Emi speaks up.

"No problem. I was worried about you," I scratch an itch on a side of my head.

"I told you I was sick," Emi replies.

"But I don't think that's all of it. Because you were pretty down on Sunday too."

"…"

"I care about you Emi. And I want to make sure you are oka-"

"I'm fine," Emi cuts me off. "I pushed myself a little bit but I'm fine."

"It's okay. I happy to know you're okay. I just had to make sure so I can sleep better," we stop in front of her room.

"I am now. Thanks to you Hisao," Emi leans in towards me. I feel like she's waiting for something.

"No problem."

"…I'll see you tomorrow on the track field," Emi opens the door to her room rather quickly, "Let's see if you kept up on your running."

"I have, maybe not as much."

"Well now I will have to punish you."

"Why?"

"Cause," Emi teases me in her response.

"…," I sigh.

"Your punishment is going to be that you have to join me for lunch for tomorrow. You have to buy me lunch too."

"Fine. It's a deal."

Emi enters her room and turns back to face me, "Bye Hisao."

"Bye Emi."

Emi closes the door gently, her smiling face inviting me in. I think that she is, considering how weird she acted today. Maybe she is still sick. I should take a cold pill before sleeping in case I get a cold. I stay standing in front of Emi's door for another minute. After that, I begin to make my way back to Molly and Asuka. As I do, I hear a door lock behind me.

Molly and I make our way through the school gates. It feels like yesterday since we were walking to the same spot; mostly because it was yesterday. The past day felt like a week has passed. A lot has been going on, but I think everything is settling down for the most part. We reach the bus stop and take a seat on a nearby bench. Sun is pretty much gone at this point, with the moon peeking in the distance. The street lights are also replacing the sun with their lights.

"Waiting for your bus again?" I decide to break the silence.

Molly turns to me and shakes her head, "No. My brother is on his way."

"Okay."

"Yeah."

Silence interrupts our small chatter. The worse part of it is that I don't know how long Silence is going to talk for. At this rate, it might as well be the whole time. I look up at the street lights and see a moth flying around it. Occasionally headbutting into it or crawling on it.

"I wonder why moths fly into lights?" I think out loud.

"It has to do with their instincts," Molly answers.

"What?"

"I remember something my dad told me once about them."

"What did he say?" my interest is now pique.

"He said that it has to do with their instincts. Like everything in their body is telling it to fly towards moonlight," she begins. "They are trying to fly north and they use the moon light as a guide."

"Really? I still don't see why they fly into the streetlight," I interrupt, but Molly continues.

"Everything in its body is telling it what to do and they are doing everything right; but it is the wrong light they are flying into."

"That seems plausible. But it also feels sad. It seems like it is futile for them to be attracted to a false thing even though their instincts are telling them it is right," I stare back at the street light. The moth still flying around it.

"I think it's the same with us," Molly tones shift slightly.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I guess like how we tell ourselves that everything is going to be okay, but in reality, it's quite the opposite."

"…," I try my best to think of an answer.

"Sorry Hisao," she snaps out of her train of thought.

"I-it's okay. Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes, just got carried away a bit."

"Well it was interesting to say the least. So, it's part of their instinct to find moonlight. But they can't tell the difference between lights."

"Well that's what my dad said," Molly nods her head. "Though I think he was going through some stuff at the time."

"Like what?" I ask.

Molly looks away for a few seconds and plays with her left braid. I think I may have hit a sensitive topic. Maybe I should change the subject.

"How long until your brother comes by to pick you up?"

"Soon," she replies, still looking away.

I pull out the letter Misha gave me before we left to see Emi. I almost forgot about it because I was in a rush to see Emi. Now that she is doing fine and everything seems to calm down, I guess I can check it out.

"Is that the letter the Student Council was holding hostage from you?" Molly makes a lighthearted chuckle.

"Yes. Today was hectic. I just remember I had it."

"You going to read it right now?" Molly leans in a little. "Wouldn't it be better to read it when you return to your dorm?"

"It would, but I kind of want to see who it's from."

I open the letter as smoothly as I can, but I have a little difficulty. I manage to open it with the envelope almost destroyed at this point. Folding open the letter inside, I hold the letter to a better position to read it.

"It's from my parents. It says that they miss me."

"That's sweet of them."

"They are also asking if I am adjusting well to school and how my studies are."

I fold up the letter and put it into my bag again.

"I guess the nurse didn't miss as much as you thought," Molly smiles.

"I think I know what Jack's broken heart feels now."

"Well as long as you are not jealous like someone else."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh nothing," Molly shakes her head. "I guess it was just me."

Before I can say anything, I hear in a distance loud music playing. The music gets louder and I turn to the direction of the music, I see an old beat up car approach us. The car windows are almost completely black out. When the car comes to a stop, the tires screech as it passes us a few meters.

"This is my ride Hisao," Molly stands up.

"Alright," I stand up as well. "I'll see you tomorrow Molly. Have a safe trip."

Molly smiles at me, "See you—"

The car horn cuts her off. Her face annoyed by it.

"Bye Hisao."

Molly heads to the car, where the music continues to blast. When she opens the door, smoke comes fuming out of the passenger side. She waves her hands and coughs a little before entering the car. The door closes and the car drives off, with the music slowly fading away along with the car.

With nothing else to do, I make my way back to my room. Today has a long and eventful day at least. I don't think I can take another minute conscious on this day. I feel like I might over sleep tomorrow.


	10. Here With You Again

"You seem to be doing better Hisao. Keep up the great work!" Emi approaches me as I'm sit at a bench.

"I push myself harder today than normally. Good to see the effort is paying off," I open my water bottle.

"I was beginning to think you were going to slack off when I was away."

"Who? Me? O-of course not," I reply with a nervous laugh. "I may have taken it easy one day. Maybe two."

Emi takes a seat next me and pinches my left arm.

"Ow! What was that for?"

'You can't take an easy day off!" Emi responds in an almost authoritative tone. "Just because I wasn't around mean you can use that as an excuse to slack off."

"I had a good reason if that is the case we are going with."

"No excuses! When you are on the track, there should be nothing on your mind besides running," she stands up. "Running helps clear your mind. Sad about failing a test. Running can help. Mad about a friend lying to you. Running can help distract you from it."

"This sounds a lot like what Molly said. Well almost."

"What is what that Kapur said?" Emi leans in, her face in my personal space.

"Well a couple weeks ago I found Molly in the garden and she said that she goes meditates there to clear her mind. I don't know, it just sounds like running is your way of meditation," I close my water bottle.

Emi takes a step backs and turns around. She looks up towards the sky, where the sun is peeking through some of the clouds. I heard it might be a hot day today. By the way how it feels right now, I think bringing this water bottle with me was the right choice.

"I guess Molly might have a point," Emi speaks up. "When I help Rin out with her paintings, she doesn't act like her usual self."

"What do you mean?" I begin stretching my arms.

"I guess the best way is to describe it what Rin says when she sees me run. When I am on the track, she said that I was my Emiest," she turns to me and takes a seat on the grass to. "When Rin paints, she is at her Rinest."

"In the moment."

I join Emi on the grass and continue my post run stretches. I guess Rin might have a point about Emi being her Emiest on the track. At the track meet, she was in pain during the last events. But when she was on the track, all that seem to disappear and she looked like there was no one on the track. Just her. I wonder what Rin looks at her Rinest? Maybe she makes sense than she usually does.

When we finish with our stretching, I begin to make my way to the boy's dorm, "See you later Emi."

I walk a few steps before I few a tug on my shirt.

"What is it Emi?" I turn to her.

"Don't forget that we're having lunch together today," she smiles.

"I know. And I'm buying lunch. I didn't forget."

Emi lets go on my shirt and takes a step back, "I'll see you later Hisao."

"Later Emi."

Emi returns to the track and takes a seat at the bench. She takes a drink of water, and continues to sit there. Seeing her just sitting there, is kind of weird. She's usually still running after I leave. Maybe she still isn't at 100 percent and still getting over her cold. Whatever the case, I make my way to the boy's dorm and look at the sky. Today is going to be a hot one.

"What are planning to eat?" Takashi turns to me.

"I don't know. I heard the bread was really good," I answer, "but it seems to be gone by the time I usually get here."

"The bread is delicious!" Asuka almost jumps out of her seat. "I only had it once, but the taste is something I can never forget."

"It's always the first thing to go. It's a pain an ass to get here early too."

"I guess I stick to my go to rice and whatever meat they have today," I shrug my shoulders.

"If I had the time, I would make myself lunch. I bet I can make a better meal than what's here," Takashi looks over to Molly; sitting at our table with Ikuno. She is pulling out a small container out of her bag.

"Didn't you burned water last time you were cooking?"

"How can you burn water?" I'm surprise by this.

"I didn't burn water. I dropped the pot cause the cheap ass handle broke off."

"What were you trying to cook?" I ask.

"That's' not important," Takashi shakes his head.

"Hisao you're next," Asuka waves.

I turn around and see the student in front of me leaves with their lunch in hand. Taking a few steps forward, I see that there are two breads left. I think it might be my lucky day; today is the day I get to try the fabled bread and all its gloriousness. Without missing a beat, I grab the last two breads.

"Nice one Hisao! But why are you getting two? Asuka ask. "Maybe you're getting one for me. If that is the case, you can hand me one now."

I shake my head, "I promised Emi I owed her lunch. In fact, I promised to hang out with her today."

"Emi Ibarazaki? Wow Hisao, you are a fast one to snag her."

"What? No. It's nothing like that. She's just a friend."

"Sure she is," Takashi picks up a bowl of rice. "Did you tell Molly about your date?"

"No, I was going to after this. Wait, it's not a date."

"Don't worry Hisao, your secret is safe with us," Asuka winks at me. "Isn't that right Taki?"

"Don't call me that. I hate being called that."

"Uh huh. Well, we promise to cover for you. Isn't that right Taki?"

"…"

"O…k," I slowly nod my head. "Thanks. Well I going to go now."

I make my way to the lunchroom exit. Before I can make it about halfway, I lock with eyes Molly. Ah crap. This might get awkward. It feels like an eternity is passing with both of us staring at each other. Molly smiles at me with her onyx colored eyes at me while I make my best attempt of smile, Asuka and Takshi join her the table. Asuka catches her attention and I make my way to the exit.

With each step I make towards the exit, I feel as though Molly is still staring at me. That may not be true, but I don't want to look back and see if she is. Turning around to see Molly with a sad look would probably make me feel guilty. I promised Emi that I would have lunch with her. Maybe I should have told Molly that earlier instead of having Asuka tell her. She'll understand. It's only lunch after all. When I reach the exit, I make a quick glance at Molly, and sure enough she's not staring at me. She is talking to Asuka. I quickly exit through the door.

As I make my way down the hall and towards the stairs, the hallway has students entering classrooms and leaving the building. I make my way up the first flight and a student passes by me. He nods his head and I return the gesture. I also spot Lilly entering a classroom. When was the last time I spoke to her? It's not important right now. I make my way up the second flight of stairs. Each step towards the last flight, my heart seems to beat faster. I feel nervous out of the sudden. I felt like this yesterday when I was going to meet Emi. Wonder why I feeling like this? I reach the roof door and open the door.

My vison goes white as soon as I push open the door. I close my eyes by instinct and slowly open them to get them readjusted to the outside light. A few steps outside to the roof, I feel like I'm going to melt because of the heat. I forgot how hot it was and being outside is doing a great job at reminding me of it.

With my vison becoming more adjusted, I see that no one is here. No Emi. No Rin. Guess I am the first one here. I make my way to one side of the roof and take a seat against the fence. I try to pick a spot with some shade, but there seems to be no shade. This sucks, as the heat isn't making this better. I place the food next to me and try to focus on anything besides the sun glaring at me. Got to think of something. Anything.

Molly. The first thing to pop into my mind is her. I hope she isn't upset that I left her today for Emi. There's shouldn't be a reason for her to be, but I can't help but feel bad for not telling her myself. Seeing her staring at me while I left the lunchroom felt like a punch to the gut. Knowing her, she might have said that she wouldn't mind, but I can't shake off this feeling of guilt. Either way, I need to think about something else, but I don't know about what. It's not too long before I hear a voice in the distance.

"There you are Hisao," the voice says. "For a second there, I wasn't sure that you would show up."

"Of course I'm here. I was waiting for you. I was about to send you a text if you were coming," I say.

"Sorry for making you wait. I thought since you were getting us lunch, it was only fair that I brought some drinks," Emi makes her way towards me with two cans.

"What drinks do you bring?"

"Um, lemon and apple. Which one do you want.?"

"I think I'll take the apple one."

Emi hands me the can on her right hand and takes a seat next to me. I open the can and take a drink of its content. The cool drink helps me wash away the heat. I grab one of the bread and hand it to Emi.

"Here is your lunch."

"Thanks!" She opens the plastic wrapper and takes a bite of the bread. "Wow! You got this bread. I never got the chance to try this. You really know how to treat a girl."

"I guess I was fast enough to get them," I chuckle a bit. My head feels hot. I don't think it's the heat that's causing it either.

"Maybe you be faster than me one day. But I doubt it will be any time soon by how slow you were," Emi sticks out her tongue.

"You'll might be surprise. Wait. Where is Rin? She isn't with you?"

"Rin said that she had to talk to the art teacher about someone that like's her art," Emi answers. "During the festival, she said one of his friends were impressed by her mural, that they wanted to Rin."

"Her mural?" I ask. "Oh yeah. The mural she painted in front of the boy's dorm. I forgot that she did that."

Emi nods her head, "Uh huh. I don't really like it, but Rin painted it and I am happy for her that she got the chance to paint a mural for the school."

"Good for her. I wish her the best."

I open the wrapper and take a bite of the popular bread at this school. A few seconds later and I can taste why this bread is gone in an instant. It's curry bread. But it isn't fried but rather baked. I guess because since this school tries to cater to student that might have issues with some of the food. Regardless, this bread is amazing. The softness of the bread with the crunchiness of the bread crumbs on the outer layer blends well with the salt of the chicken curry. The chicken itself is savory and retains the curry well and each bite makes the flavors blend into something that I wish I had an endless supply of.

"This bread is delicious," I say after taking another bite.

"It really is. I'm really glad that you brought this. I thought the rumors about this were too good to be true," she takes a sip of her lemon drink. "This bread really lived up to its reputation."

I wonder if Molly ever got to try this awesomeness of a food. Wait, why am I thinking about her again? I need to quit that, but I can't. In the back of my mind, Molly is there. I take another bite of the bread, but the flavor of it changed from the best thing to the worst thing I have tasted. I try to wash it down with a drink, but even that makes the taste worse.

"You ok Hisao?" Emi taps me on my right shoulder.

"Yes. Just thinking how hot it is," I wipe my head. I feel a collection of sweat gather in my hand.

"Oh, I know. I already feel my uniform sticking to me. I'm going to have to take a long bath tonight."

"Bath?" I almost choke on this flavorless bread.

"You don't like to take a bath?"

"I prefer showers. Something about running water helps me feel at ease."

"I'll make a note of that," Emi smiles at me with joy.

"Why?"

"No reason. Just something I learn about you. Nothing else."

"Come to think of it, I don't think we know much about each other."

"Well," Emi scoots closer to me, "what do you want to know about me? Let's take turns asking each other questions."

"O-okay," I swallow the bread. I'm nervous what she might ask.

"I'll go first!"

"…"

"What's your favorite color?"

I breathe a sigh of relief. She didn't go straight to the jugular.

"Red," I reply.

"Red? I would have thought it might be blue. Okay, your turn."

"..," damn this is harder than I thought. Being put on the spot makes it difficult to think, as hundreds of questions race through my mind. Think of something. Something simple and not something like what's the square root of 4638. "Um, do you have any pets?"

"No. Well I had a hamster when I was six. Her name was Momo and she had these big cheeks. She was really cute with her short brown bushy tail," she answers with a smile on her face. "Do you have any pets?

"No. My dad is allergic to cats and my mom hates dogs."

"Not even a goldfish?"

"I see them more as a decoration than a pet."

"Oh," she takes a sip of her drink. "You turn."

"What's your favorite color?"

"Pink," she smiles. "No repeating questions."

"You started it," I counter.

"Starting now."

"Um…umm…," my mind runs blank. "I got nothing."

"Really? You ran of questions already?"

"Sorry. This bread is really good. I can't think of anything besides how it's almost gone," I try to save the few bites I have left.

Emi shakes her head, her frown is trying to guilt me.

"Oh! I got a great question," Emi smiles. Her smile seems more mischief than playful. "Do you like anyone?"

"Wha?" I answer with a piece of bread caught in my throat. I take a sip of my drink to wash it down. "What did you say?"

"Do you like anyone Hisao?"

"…"

She really went straight to the jugular with this one. Do I like anyone? Some of the girls here are cute; some of them cuter than the girls from my old school. But I don't know if I like anyone.

"I don't know," I answer.

"You don't know if you like anyone? Not even Kapur?"

Molly. My mind goes blank. I should have told her that I was going to have lunch today with Emi. Her staring at me in the lunchroom. Why do I care about that so much? Maybe I do like her, or the very least, care about her. She has help me out and yesterday she really came through when she didn't have to.

"Hisao?" Emi pulls me out of my train of thought.

"It's my turn to ask a question," I try to avoid answering.

"Another time. Lunch is over; the bell just rang."

"Did it?"

"Yes. Let's go before we're late," she gets up and heads towards the door. I follow her.

We walk down the stairs and join the mob of students walking to their classes. I continue to walk with Emi until we reach her classroom.

"See you in the morning Hisao," she smiles.

"Bye Emi. See you tomorrow."

She walks into her classroom, but turns around, "Hisao?"

"Yes?"

"Nothing," she smiles one more time before she leaves.

Anyways, I make my way to my classroom. I open the door and see most of my classmates are in their seat. Molly is in her seat and she spots me. She smiles when I approach her and take my seat.

I look out the window until class begins. Lunch with Emi turned out to be not as bad. The curry bread was probably the best meal I had since in a while. I shift my attention from the window to Molly; I recall what Emi asked me earlier.

…" _Do you like anyone Hisao?"…_

…" _Not even Kapur?"…_

The heat outside has died down a lot after school ended. It's still hot, but it's not too hot as it was earlier. The shade from the tree and gentle breeze passing is making it feel refreshing. Sounds of cicadas singing help only make me feel like taking a nap. I open my eyes and stretch a bit. Molly is still sitting next to me. We didn't talk much on our way here and she didn't bring up where I went for lunch. I was expecting she would have mention it but so far nothing.

"So how was lunch with Emi?" Molly asks out of nowhere. Though I was expecting ever since lunch was over.

"It was alright. The rooftop isn't the best to have lunch on a hot day," I answer with a chuckle; trying to calm myself, but I stop as soon as I start, "Molly?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell I was having lunch today with Emi. I should have told you."

"It's fine Hisao. Asuka told me," she turns to me. "It's not a big deal."

"I don't know. When I left the lunchroom, I felt like I did something wrong."

"Why would you think that Hisao?"

"I think it's because you're the only person I trust here," I take a deep breath. "The past couple weeks, you been there for me. You helped me out, especially the past couple of days. You didn't have to, but you did. I can't thank you enough."

Molly eyes widen as her cheeks turn a soft shade of red, "It's nothing. You would have done the same."

"I don't think I would have honestly. I was pretty down ever since I had my accident."

"It's understandable Hisao. I think most of us had that grief period."

"Did you?"

"A little bit. But that was a long time ago," she rubs her metal legs. "We all have our own demons that we have to face. It can be tough to do it alone sometimes, but with someone by your side, it's easier."

Our demons. I guess I never saw it like that. Everyone has their own problems that they are dealing with here. My heart, Molly lack of legs, Asuka being confine to a wheelchair, and so on. Not even our disabilities. My parents were hurt from it too. My father never really showed it as much as my mom did. I remember leaving the hospital, he didn't look at me the whole time. It might have hit him hard. I guess I was being selfish about it.

"Thanks Molly."

"For what?" she sounds confuse.

"For being there. I probably said this before, but you helped me out a lot since I got here. I'm glad that you asked me to pair up with you back then."

Molly laughs a little, but it's more sincere, "You did just say that Hisao."

"Sorry."

"Don't be. I'm glad that I've met you."

"Yeah," I nod.

Molly stands up and stretches her arms. That is soon follow by a yawn. "I think it's a good time to call it a day. I think my bus is going to be here soon."

"You want me to come along?"

"No, it's okay. I want to be by myself today."

"How come?"

"Oh nothing. I have some stuff I want to think over."

"Okay. See you tomorrow Molly."

"Bye Hisao," she smiles at me. I can't help but to return the gesture.

Molly begins to take a few steps before turning back to me, "Hisao?"

"Yes?"

"Nothing," she leaves with a quick pace.

Molly continues to walk as I watch on. She stops for a bit, turns around, and we lock eyes. She smiles at me one more time before disappearing around the corner of the main building. I decide to head towards my room. I feel like taking a bath for a change.


	11. Alone by Your Side

Act 2, Scene 8: Alone by Your Side

"So is this right?" Takashi hands over his homework.

"Almost. You made a small mistake here. Since this element lost its electron, it will be a positive charge."

"So the element that got the extra electron would have a negative charge because it got an extra electron?"

"You got it." I hand back Takashi's homework. "But also remember that each ring has a set number of electrons before it becomes full, so to speak."

"I think I'm getting the hang of this. Thanks," he mumbles the last part.

About a week passed, and lately Takashi has been asking me to help him out with his homework. We had a quiz a few days ago and Takashi seemed to do bad on it, since he asked me for help again. It's been awhile since I helped him out and last time kind of ended on a weird note, with him saying not to tell anyone that he needed help. But I guess he cares enough about his grades to ask me for help for a second time this week.

He seemed to be nicer to me the second time he asked for help. He pulled me aside after school and said he needed help with his homework in a crude manner. I didn't want to help but he seemed to lighten up when he told me he doesn't know anyone else that's good at science. Today he asked for more help and here we are in the library. He seems to be showing a nicer side of him. Which may not be saying much.

"So is this right?" He hands me his homework again.

"That's right."

"Alright man, I think I'm going to call it a day. I got to meet someone soon."

"Okay, I think I'm going to stay here and check out some new books to read."

"You really are a bookworm, aren't ya?"

"Well four months in the hospital with nothing to do, might do that." I agree with him.

Takashi shakes his head, but I can see a smirk form at the corner of his mouth. "I don't know about that, but I think I would find that a pain in the ass."

"Well it can be."

"What? Anyways, catch you later Hisao." Takashi picks up his bag and leaves.

"Bye."

I think he's slowly being more okay with me. He's a little rough around the edges, but I think he means well, despite looking like he might punch me if I get on his nerves. Well, you take what you get.

I put away my homework and take out a book I borrowed. I'm almost done with it and might as well finish it up before I check out some new ones.

This book is a good read; it's about a boat captain obsessed with a whale. He's been tracking this whale for taking his leg. Asuka told me that the book has been made into a movie countless times and said she might have a copy of one them if I wanted to watch it. I told her I'll think about it. Mostly because I don't have a DVD player.

"Hey Hisao." A familiar voice calls me out.

"Hey. What are you doing here Molly? I thought you were leaving early today." I close my book.

"I was." She takes a seat next to me. "But…"

"But?"

"You busy at the moment?"

"Besides finishing up this book, nothing. What's up?"

"Um." She looks down nervously.

"You alright there, Molly?"

"Yes." She looks back up, her face a nice hue of pink. "Would you like to go into town with me?"

"Yeah." I nod. "You going to pick up some medicine?"

"No. Why would you think that?"

"I don't know. You look like you might have caught something, since you look red. You want to see the nurse first?"

"I'm fine." She takes a deep breath. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah," I answer as I grab my bag.

Before we leave the library, I return the books. I think I'll read this book tomorrow after classes to read the ending. We make our way down the stairs while the gloomy sky still lingers from today. I heard there was a chance it was going to rain this week, but it's been cloudy the past few days with no signs of rain. I brought my umbrella for the first couple of days; cause it's better to be safe than sorry, but today, I left it back in my room, since I figured I could run back to the dorms if it started raining.

"What do you have to pick up in town?" I ask as we reach the stairs, making sure to match Molly's pace.

She laughs nervously, "Some stuff."

"What kind of stuff? School supplies?"

"No. You'll see."

I shrug with a casual "Okay."

I'm not sure what she means, but I think it's best not to press further. We reach the first floor and I open the exit door for Molly. She smiles gratefully as we enter the gloomy world.

The dark gray clouds in the sky almost completely take over the blue skies, with some of the blue trying its best to not stay hidden by the clouds. The weather matches the gloomy sky. It is chilly but you can embrace the cold without wearing a sweater. I chose not to wear one. Molly chose to wear one. She is wearing a gray sweater. It's like a charcoal gray but a little bit lighter.

"Aren't you cold?" Molly shivers a little as a breeze passes by.

"Not really," I answer. "I think I got used to the cold by running with Emi every early morning."

"I see. Are liking your runs with Ibarazki?"

"I do enjoy it. Though I think it's just routine for me."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Emi is a fun person, but when it comes to running, she takes it to another level sometimes."

"How so?" Molly shivers again as we approach the school gates.

"Okay. This may be embarrassing but I think it's funny looking back."

"Embarrassing?"

I look down for a bit, surprised that I'm going to tell this story.

"When I first started running with Emi, since it was my first week here, I was still in the process of getting used to Yamaku. Not only was it a new school, but it was also right after my parents told me that I was going here. Like literally the day after leaving the hospital."

Molly eyes shift from watching where we are walking to me. Her face never changing expression, just fixated on my story.

"It's bad looking back, but I hated this. I didn't like that my old life was gone, and I'd pretty much written off my future as a broken person sent away to this school."

"That's a really bad way of thinking, but I can see why."

I nod.

"I forget if it was the second or third day. The nurse approaches me and suggest running could help improve my health. I went along with the idea."

We begin to make our way downhill.

"I was thrown off at first that Emi was my partner."

"Uh huh."

"She was happy to help out. She tells me to stretch first before running. I told her that I didn't need to stretch."

Molly's pace slows down as the hill becomes steeper.

"What did she say?"

"Naturally, she got upset at me. Granted she is a runner and I am just some kid who tried to be a showoff."

"Oh boy," Molly lets out a small laugh at my mistake.

"The first lap I ran, I was already out of breath and sweating as if I just got out of the pool. Emi doesn't break a sweat, despite running laps around me."

"How did you feel?"

"I felt a little defeated," I laugh. "But I think the second day was worse."

"How so?"

"I finish my first lap, and Emi was passing me again. She looked back and gave me a friendly nod. I decided this time I wouldn't let her pass me up."

"…"

Molly continues to listen to my story; showing genuine interest when she makes glances at me.

"So me, trying not to lose to this girl, who has pretty much been running for her entire life, I pass her. Emi smiled and passed me again. So, I sped up and passed her again only for her to pass me again."

"I see."

"I tried to pass her one more time, but this time I my heart had enough. Next thing I was looking at the sky, with Emi freaking out."

"Oh my god! What happened next?"

"She helped me to the nurse's office and after a bit of recovery, learned it was probably best not to get in a race with a runner when you have a heart condition."

"I'm glad that you're okay."

"It wouldn't be the first time a girl sent me to the hospital," I laugh.

But I think I'm laughing at my misfortune more than Molly is. She looks concern and kind of confuse.

"What do you mean not the first time?"

"UmI" Now I feel embarrassed. My face feels like I walked into an oven.

Molly still looks concerned, but she grabs my arm. "Sorry Hisao, but can I borrow your arm real quick? The slope is getting too steep for me."

"Sure."

She wraps her arm around mine as we make are almost at the bottom of the hill. This part is the steepest, but it isn't to much of a hassle if you're careful. We slow down our pace and I make sure Molly has a good grip on my arm. Her hand feels cold, but I feel it slowly warm up as we reach the bottom of the hill. She doesn't let go, but I don't mind. It feels nice.

"Where are we going again?"

"The Aura Mart," she replies. "I want to get a snack."

"Sounds good to me."

Molly eventually let goes of my arm. She smiles while she tries to hide her blush after noticing she was still holding onto me. It's cute to see her turn red, but I think I'm blushing a little. We walk down a block or two until we reach the mart.

"What are you going to get?" she asks.

"I'm not sure. Maybe some chips and something to drink. What about you?"

"I think some ice cream."

"Ice cream?" I give her a weird look. "Isn't it too cold for ice cream?"

"Maybe but eating ice cream in the cold feels right for some reason."

"I don't know. It's interesting."

Molly gives me a look. Not a look like she is bothered by my answer, but rather a look as if she is confident. As if she is going to convince me that eating ice cream in the cold is normal.

"Well, have you ever tried it?"

I was right.

"No."

"Don't knock it until you try it," she says with smile.

"Alright," I chuckle. She looks cute when she has that confident smile.

We walk down to where the drinks are and proceed to look at the vast collection of drinks. Some labels on the drinks stand out compared to others. This orange drink has a panda smiling while taking a sip, which looks exactly like another orange drink that has a pink rabbit taking a sip through a straw. They look pretty much the same, just different brands I think. I end up getting water. Molly gets the same.

The store has some students walking around, but I don't really see anyone I know. There are also some adults here. They sometimes look at the students and one of them spots me looking at them. She looks back at the item she is holding. But she glances one more time in my direction before we enter another aisle. I guess it can't be helped.

The aisle we enter is where the ice cream and some other snacks are. The snacks are mostly chocolate and candy. I am tempted to get this chocolate bar, but in the back of my mind, I hear Emi yelling at me. I continue to walk down the aisle, as Molly stares at the freezer. I guess she's having a tough time making a choice as well. Her eyes shift from one ice cream to another as if she is picking an answer in a multiple-choice test.

I am having a tough time figuring out what I want to snack on myself. Eventually I decide on some banana bread. Bananas are usually not that bad tasting, plus it has bananas in it and it's a fruit, so it can't be that bad of a choice right?

As I decide on my choice, it looks as if Molly has made hers as well. She opens the freezer and shivers when the cold air hits her. She quickly grabs the ice cream and closes the door and heads my way.

"You sure you want ice cream? You were shivering a lot there trying to get it," I tease her.

"Yes Hisao." she changes her tone to a mock serious one. "If I get sick because of this, I expect you visit me."

"I'll bring ice cream to make you feel better."

Molly gives me a look that says "Okay, let's just go now." I guess I threw her off with my reply. She didn't seem to take offense, but rather she doesn't know how to reply to that. So we leave it at that and head to the cashier.

There's a line to checkout out our snacks. Not really a long one, just three people ahead of us. The cashier is an older man. In front of us is the lady that was looking at the students earlier. She looks back slowly and smiles as soon as she sees me. I think she is trying her best to be polite- which works, but it feels like it's tacked on. I smile back at her before she turns back.

"What did you get?" Molly catches my attention.

"Banana bread. It sounds good, so I figured I'd try it out." I show her the snack. "What ice cream did you get?"

"I got strawberry." She hands me the small container of ice cream.

It looks like a foreign one, because I have a hard time trying to pronounce the name in my head, so I just look at the picture. The label seems pretty-straight forward. Picture of the ice cream with some patterns on it. Simple and to the point.

"It does look good." I hand back the ice cream.

"I usually get the ice cream bar," she says as she takes a step forward.

"Hello there," the cashier greets Molly.

"Hi."

"Did you find everything okay?"

"Yes I did. You have quite the selection of ice cream."

"Ah yes," he rings up her items, "I recently ordered some new ice cream since I heard this summer is going to be hotter compared to last year."

"I'll try my best to come again and try another flavor."

"I would like that." the old man smiles. "That will be 486 yen."

Molly searches her bag for her wallet. It looks worse for wear but still holding together somehow. She pulls out a small handful of coins, slowly picks up the coins until she has enough and hands them over.

"Here you go."

"Okay and here is your change. Have a nice day," the old cashier smiles at Molly, handing over her change and receipt.

Molly takes her things and moves to the side as I approach the counter.

"Hello, young man. Did you find everything okay?"

"Yes," I answer.

"Is that your girlfriend?" The cashier looks over at Molly. She smiles back at the cashier, though you can see that she is surprised by the question as I am.

"No," we reply almost in unison.

"Sorry to assume that. I saw you two entered together, so I figured."

"It's fine."

"Hisao, I'm going outside," Molly says as she quickly walks towards the door.

"Okay," I reply, but I don't think she heard as fast as she is going.

"Anyway, that will be 559 yen."

I reach for my wallet and pull out a 500 yen note. It has seen better days, as one of the corners is ripped off and its been folded too many times to the point where it droops like a wet noodle. I fish in my pocket for a 100 yen coin I might have. Lucky for me, I usually carry some around just in case.

"Here's is 600 yen," I hand over the cash.

"And here is your change. Have a nice day."

"Thank you."

"Hey lad!" the cashier calls out.

"What is it?"

"Nevermind. Sorry to bother you."

I walk outside and spot Molly leaning against the wall. She is on her phone texting I believe. She doesn't notice me, as she waits for a reply.

Outside it still looks gloomy, especially with the sun going down. It's cloudy, but you can tell the sun is setting by how dark it is. The street lights turn on. Well some of them do. I'm starting to feel the cold weather hit me.

"Hisao?" Molly looks up from her phone.

"Yeah?"

"Want to go to the park?"

"Umm…sure. Where's the park?"

"It's about a block this way," she says as she points to the left.

Molly gets up from the wall. I pick up her shopping bag for her as we make our way to the park. She smiles at me as we leave the Aura Mart behind us.

"So," I speak up, "it sure got cold."

She nods her head but, doesn't look at me as she does.

"Any plans this weekend?"

Molly shakes her head. "Nothing really. What about you?"

"I don't know. Maybe read some books like I usually do. Or take Asuka up on her offer and watch a movie with her."

"You have any siblings Hisao?"

That came out of nowhere.

"No. I'm an only child."

"Oh. Okay."

Molly falls silent until we see the park at the end of the block. She slows down her pace to pull out her phone and starts texting rapidly with her thumb. When she closes her phone, she takes a few steps before having to open her phone again and repeating the process. The second time, she doesn't move and waits for a reply.

I stand by a light post as Molly continues to have her text conversation. I try not to be nosey and look across the street. There's a restaurant at the corner of the street. The sign reads Shintaro. It seems to be smaller than the Shanghai, but also looks modern. I am kind of interested in what kind of food they have. Maybe another time when my wallet feels heavier.

Behind me, I hear a phone close with click, follow by a long, tired sigh. I turn to see Molly looking down at the ground. I can't make out her face because her bangs are covering up the upper half. I take a couple steps towards Molly. She looks up at me; changing her expression to try to mask what just happened.

"Are you okay, Molly?" I put my hand on her shoulder.

"…no," she mumbles.

"What's the matter?"

"Something that happened to my brother. He said he's on his way to pick me up."

"Is he alright?"

"He is. Just that the pass few weeks have been hard for him. I've been trying my best to cheer him up."

"Well I hope things work out for him," I smile.

She tries her best to smile back, "I hope so too."

We make it to the park. I don't think I've ever seen it before. Well, I don't really go into town except when I go to the store or the Shanghai. There are some benches along the concrete path and a few gazebos around.

Molly and I take a seat by a bench nearby. I hand her the bag and she thanks me as she pulls out her drink. Then she takes out her ice cream. She shakes when she touches the cold container and places it on the bench next to her. Molly puts her hands to her mouth and warms them up with her breath.

"Are you sure eating ice cream in the cold is a good idea?" I chuckle.

"Yes." She picks up the container and opens it. Molly takes out the small plastic spoon it came with and scoops up a small bit. "But you're taking the first bite."

"Why?"

"I want you to try it."

She slowly raises the spoon of strawberry ice cream close to my mouth. I oblige and let her feed me. The cold ice cream sticks to my tongue and makes my tongue hurt a little as she retracts the plastic utensil. The cold snack begins to melt in my mouth and I swallow it.

"So?"

"I still think it's too cold for ice cream."

"Oh…" Molly didn't want to hear that answer.

"But the ice cream is good. If it was warmer, I wouldn't mind eating it."

Molly scoots closer to me. She scoops up another bit and eats it. Her face shakes when it enters her mouth; probably stuck to her tongue as well, but a couple seconds later, her face shows joy as she swallows.

I open my bag and take out my banana bread snack. The plastic wrapper making all sorts of noise as I open it up. I pull apart the corner and look at Molly.

"Do want to try this? It's only fair since you shared yours."

"I would like to." She moves her face closer to me.

I guess it's my turn to feed Molly. I've never done this. My hand slowly approaches her mouth. She opens her mouth and I feed her the snack. I quickly retract my hand when she takes a bite. I take a deep breath to try to calm my heart.

"That's really delicious," Molly takes a sip of water.

I take a bite of the bread. It's soft and a little bit moist. There are also nuts in it. After chewing for a bit, I figured out that it's walnuts.

"I never had banana bread with walnuts before," I comment.

"It's really good. Can I have another bite?"

"Uh, sure," I pull apart another piece.

This time I hand her the piece of bread. Molly takes it and smiles at me with a "Thank you". Her face lights up as she eats the bread.

"I need to learn how to make this sometime," she speaks up.

"You like to bake?" I ask.

"Um, I started to learn," she answers. "Well to be honest, I only learned how to cook last year when I moved in with my brother."

"I see. The only thing I can cook is cereal, if you can call that cooking."

"It's not." She smiles. "I'm still learning. I used to know only how to make cereal too And toast"

"I should probably learn how to cook someday. I don't know if instant ramen would be a good diet."

"Maybe you should ask Takashi."

"Why would I ask him?"

"Well, he taught me how to cook."

"Takashi can cook?"

"Yes. He doesn't look like it, but he is a pretty decent cook."

"I'll keep that mind."

I finish up the banana bread and wash it down with water. Molly finishes her ice cream not long after. I offer to throw our trash away and she happily hands over hers. I walk to a nearby trashcan.

Out of nowhere, I feel something hit my head. It isn't hard or anything, but enough to catch me off guard. Shortly after, I feel more things hit my head and see dark spots appear on the ground. It's raining. I quickly toss away the trash and run back to Molly, who is walking towards me with our stuff.

"We should really get out of the rain," I say as I reach her.

"There's a gazebo over there," she points to my left. "We can try to wait the rain out."

I nod, and we make our way to the gazebo. It's not raining hard, but it is drizzling to the point where if we were to walk back to Yamaku, we'd be getting soaked.

"I really wish I brought my umbrella with me."

"I brought one," Molly says. She opens up her bag and pulls out her clear umbrella.

"Should we head back to Yamaku?"

"You can borrow my umbrella. I told my brother I was at the park, so he should be on his way."

"I'll wait with you until he comes then." I take her umbrella.

She looks down as she takes out her phone. I can hear it vibrate as she picks it up.

"Hello?"

"…"

"I'm at the park still."

"…"

"I forgot to bring my umbrella. I thought it wasn't going to rain today," she lies.

"…"

"I know."

"…"

"Okay. Bye."

Molly closes her phone and puts it back in her bag with a tired sigh. Seems like she had this kind of conversation before. Well one kind of did happened early. I wonder how often this happens between them.

"He's on his way."

"Your brother?"

She nods her head.

The rain continues to fall as the minutes pass. The gentle wind blowing doesn't help but makes me dread the long walk back to school. It's really not long, maybe a fifteen minute walk uphill- but with the rain, it might add another five minutes. Still, I hope this rain is passing since I don't want to get a cold.

"What's the matter?" Molly asks.

"Just thinking about the walk back to school in the rain. I hope it lightens up."

"I could ask my brother if he can give you a ride, but don't expect one," she says in a matter of fact tone.

"It's fine. I have your umbrella to protect me from the rain." I hold up the umbrella.

"I'm sorry Hisao."

"For what?"

"For making you walk back in the rain."

"It's fine. Plus it's my fault for not taking my umbrella with me today."

"I know but I feel bad about it."

"Molly," I scoot closer to her. "It's okay. It's only rain. It's not the first time I've walked in the rain without an umbrella."

"…"

"Do you like the rain Molly?" I ask her.

"Yes, I do." She closes her eyes, "It's soothing to hear the raindrops hit the floor. What about you?"

"Apart from the getting wet part, I don't mind it."

"I think nobody likes getting wet in the rain," she smiles.

"Yeah."

The rain slowly begins to show signs of letting up. It becomes easier to see some of the buildings in the distance. Also the clouds are breaking apart with whatever remaining sunlight there is peeking out. I guess I might not have to walk in the rain after all.

Molly reaches for her bag again and pulls out her phone once more.

"Hello."

"…"

"I see you. I'm over here on your right," Molly waves her hand. She then closes her phone.

I follow her eyes to see a person walk towards us. I think it's her brother. It's hard to tell from this distance, and with the street lights not hitting him as he approaches. As the person walks closer to us, I start having questions.

"Is that your brother?" I ask her.

"Yes."

"Hey Molly," the person says as he approaches us. "Who's he?"

"I'm Hisao."

He doesn't say anything. Molly's brother doesn't look how I expected him to be. Not that I had any idea what he would look like. The main one is that they don't look like siblings. Molly is Indian, while this person looks Japanese. Is Molly adopted?

"This is Hisao," Molly speaks up. "This is my brother Ichiro."

"Hey," he nods his head at me. "You ready to go?"

"Umm, yeah."

"Let's go then." He begins to walk back where he came from. He seems not to care who I am, or really like to be here.

"Bye Hisao. See you tomorrow."

"Bye Molly."

Molly leaves and quickly catches up to her brother. I think I have seen him before, but I am having a hard time remembering. He has blonde hair like Takashi. His hair sticking out in some places. He also had a stoic expression. It's getting on my nerves trying to figure this out. I give up and begin to make my way back to the dorm; if I remember how to get back.

"Ichiro." I think out loud.


End file.
